


Take Me Somewhere We Can Be Alone

by SwiftEmera



Category: Glee
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Bad Decisions, Bad Hangovers, Bad Parenting, Bullying, Drunken Nights, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Seriously Seb's dad is a dick, Suicide Attempt, suicidal behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-03-10 23:08:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 61,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3306779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwiftEmera/pseuds/SwiftEmera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four months after his break up with Kurt, Blaine’s ready to move on. An eventful night in Ohio’s newest gay bar leads to a run in with an old nemesis. Blaine finds that Sebastian isn't really all that evil once he gets to know him, and discovers some troubling information about his home life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Purple Elephant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my first attempt at writing Seblaine, so please let me know how you find the characterisations as well as anything else you feel I'm doing wrong/right - or even just leave a comment to let me know you're reading. It's always lovely to get some feedback for writing. Keeps the motivation up! 
> 
> I'm not quite sure how many chapters this fic will be yet, so read with caution! Updates will be sporadic - I'm a student, so it's just about when I have the free time, really. Chapter 2 is already written though, so it may appear sooner than you think. I just need to go over a few details and then I'll post it.

Blaine stood in his bedroom, adjusting his bow-tie as the voice of Taylor Swift flowed through the radio. He couldn’t help but hum along, a slight skip in his step as he moved to grab his suit jacket before returning to the mirror and grinning at his reflection. He had decided to pass on the hair gel tonight, letting his hair hang in loose curls, some hanging down over his face. It wasn’t ideal, but he had gotten a lot of compliments on his hair when he left it natural instead of gelling it back.   
  
Sam had insisted on trying out the new local gay bar. Since Scandals closed, there hadn’t really been anywhere for Blaine to meet other gay boys - not that he really wanted to, anyway. His break up with Kurt had been traumatic enough, and was still fresh in his mind despite Sam’s insistence that “it’s been over four months”and “come on, dude, live a little!”

Still, his best friend did have a point. Not that Blaine was planning on hopping into bed with the first guy he met. No, the whole point in this night out was simply to dip his toe in the water - talk to some cute boys, maybe flirt a little, get a taste of living a life without Kurt – of maybe being happy with someone else. His heart sank at the thought, but Kurt had made his choice and broken off their engagement. Blaine wasn’t sure he could trust Kurt after that, even if the other boy had ever changed his mind.  
  
It wasn’t that Blaine was over Kurt. It still hurt like a bitch sometimes. At the beginning, Blaine had shut himself off in his bedroom, refusing to speak to anyone, even Sam or his parents. It wasn’t until the middle of the third week, when Blaine had pretty much sobbed himself dry, that he so much as stepped outside his home, and that was only to collect a piled up collection from his mailbox in his housecoat, concealing the fact that he was still in his underwear. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), graduating that summer had meant that he had nowhere he needed to be, allowing him to live up to his full potential as a hermit. Slowly but surely, though, Blaine (with a LOT of pushing from Sam and nagging from Tina) had managed to regain some semblance of a life. He started seeing his friends occasionally, he began to actually take care of his appearance again, and he had even snagged a part time job at a local cafe. It was a quiet little place called “Sugar & Spice” situated in a less frequented part of town. Blaine sometimes wondered how his manager Tony kept the place up and running, but as far as he knew there was no issues there. The fact of the matter was, he was content. Not quite back to being himself, but at least he was functioning properly again.  
  
With a quick check of the clock on his bedroom wall, Blaine realized he was running slightly late. “Shit,” he mumbled, almost tripping over his own feet as he gathered the last of his things before rushing out the door to his apartment, hurriedly locking it behind him.  
  
—-  
  
Karma was situated a little closer to Blaine’s home than it would have if he still lived with his parents - a small blessing of sorts. This meant that it only took Blaine approximately 20 minutes to drive at the fastest speed he could in his yellow 1954 mini cooper without breaking the speed limit (of which Blaine doubted that his car was capable, even if he had dared to try).

  
Blaine exited the car, gazing up at the building before him distractedly. From the outside he could already tell that the place was way bigger than Scandals. The nightclub had formed quite a lengthy queue, and the bouncers appeared to be checking the ID cards meticulously. Before he could begin to worry about that fact, though, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.  
  
**3 new messages  
** **5 missed calls**  
  
All the missed calls were from Sam. Blaine winced, opening the first message.  
  
_**SAM:**_ _Where r u man? Im inside, sitting near the back next to the purple elephant sculpture. U can’t miss it, c u soon_ **  
**  
Purple elephant sculpture? The hell kind of place was Sam dragging him to? What would this night even lead to? He was never going to forget their impromptu trip to Vegas, in which Sam had dragged him to a bar that had been recommended to him by a distant cousin or something, and Blaine had woken up in the hallway of his hotel room, having apparently not even made it to the bed, less one shoe and one sock with no recollection of the previous night. Pushing the thought aside, he read the next text, also from Sam.  
__  
_**SAM:**_ _DUde plz tell me ur not standing me up, ive been propositioned twice already and they wont believe im straight, plz hurry_  
  
Rolling his eyes, Blaine moved on to the next text.  
__  
_**UNKNOWN SENDER:**_ _Look to your left ;)_  
  
Furrowing his brow, Blaine squinted at his phone perplexed. He figured it was a wrong number, but curiosity had him glance over to the left of the queue next to what appeared to be a back door, and he immediately froze. A pair of familiar green eyes leered back at him, accompanied by a knowing smirk.   
  
Blaine hesitated, then approached the man standing next to the door. “What the hell are you doing here, Sebastian? And how did you even get my number?”  
  
Sebastian just chuckled, bringing a fluttering feeling out in Blaine’s stomach, and a pink tinge to his cheeks. “I forgot how hot you were when you were flustered, killer. Care to step inside?” he asked, producing some sort of keycard from his pocket, swiping it on the side of the door swiftly, and the door opened with a  _click_. “Staff card, not mine.” Sebastian winked, in reply to Blaine’s questioning gaze. Which just raised more questions than it answered, really. “Come on in, B,” Sebastian grinned at the shorter boy, “Unless you’d rather wait in line to get in?”  
  
Blaine glanced back at the queue, noting that it didn’t seem to be moving at all, and seemed to have accumulated more club goers in the short time that Blaine had allowed himself to be distracted by his… his what? Ex friend? Tormentor? Blaine wasn’t even sure what Sebastian was to him. Nonetheless, it was freezing, Sam was waiting inside and he was sure it would take at least an hour for him to get in without Sebastian’s aid, so he followed reluctantly into the smoky entrance, barely concealing the blaring music coming from inside the club.

They were in some sort of storeroom, judging from the piles and piles of boxes surrounding them. Apart from that, the room was pretty bare. Blaine raised his eyes at Sebastian, who just grinned at him triumphantly. “Good to see you again, killer. I was starting to think that your fiancée had locked you up somewhere to stop you from going out and having a good time.”

Blaine paused in his tracks, shooting a glare at the older boy. “For your information, Kurt and I broke up. Four months ago. He broke it off. And no, I don’t want to talk about it. Now, where are we and how do I get into the club? Sam’s waiting on me.” He waited for a reply, but Sebastian appeared to be taken aback by the news of his break-up with Kurt, if looks were anything to go by. His jaw was slack, and for once he seemed to be lost for words. “This is the part where you say ‘I told you so’ or gloat, or whatever you’re going to do, Sebastian. Just get it over with, and let me go and find my best friend”.

He waited on some sort of sarcastic retort or gleeful triumph from Sebastian. However, Blaine was taken aback by the softened look aimed in his direction. He didn’t even know Sebastian was capable of such a look. He would almost say that he appeared to care about Blaine’s happiness. Which couldn’t be the case, could it? Not when he’d shamelessly pursued Blaine countless times, after Blaine telling him he had a boyfriend. Not after he’d blatantly insulted Blaine’s fiancée and friends for no good reason other than to stir up trouble. And certainly not after he’d landed Blaine in hospital, nearly blinding him for good. The only other time he had seen Sebastian look so remorseful was after Karofsky’s attempted suicide, when he was apologising and proposing a truce between the Warblers and New Directions.

“Blaine, I- god, I’m sorry.” Spotting the sceptical look on Blaine’s features, Sebastian hunched his shoulders. “Really. You’re too good for him, B. Come on, let’s get you good and drunk, yes?”

“But Sam-”

“The more the merrier!” Sebastian winked, his demeanour appearing to turn back to normal. “I’ll be by the bar!”

Sebastian swung open the door at the other side of the storeroom, and suddenly the music blasted through. They were playing some upbeat techno dance song that Blaine was sure he’d never heard before. He followed the other boy through, surveying his surroundings. They had come out behind the bar area. The dance floor was huge, and extremely busy. Bodies moved together to the beat of the music, some grinding against one another, and some simply dancing beside one another. All sorts of colourful sculptures decorated the place, along with eccentric artwork around the walls which could barely be seen unless the lights flashed in that direction. Sebastian whispered something to one of the barmen, sliding the keycard to him and nudging him with his shoulder, grinning. Blaine frowned. He was not jealous. He was  _not_. He just didn’t appreciate Sebastian’s shameless flirting with any man that moved.

He spotted Sam, who seemed to be talking animatedly to a couple of drag queens beside the purple sculpture that he had described in his text. If he was still wondering where Blaine was, it really didn’t show. He seemed to be in his element, and Blaine could tell by his stance that he was wowing his growing audience with impressions. Chuckling under his breath and shaking his head, Blaine made his way over to his friend, leaving Sebastian to flirt with the guy behind the bar at his own leisure. It wasn’t like Blaine cared, anyway.

—-

“So I was like- Blaine! BLAINE!” Sam yelled, gesturing the boy approaching him to come closer. “Where have you been, dude?! I’d almost given up on you!”

“It looks like you’d forgotten me!” Blaine replied, straining his voice over the loud music.

“Nah, man,” Sam replied, grabbing two drinks from the table beside him, “Here, I got this for you while I was waiting – drink up!”

—-

It was about an hour later when Blaine saw Sebastian again. By this point, he had downed round seven screwdrivers, not to mention whatever the throat burning shots were that Sam kept returning from the bar with. Needless to say, he was feeling considerably looser. He was even willing to admit that Sebastian was looking hot as ever. He grinned over to the boy, all hostility forgotten as he approached.

“Seb! I forgot you were here!” Blaine swayed, almost knocking into a few bodies to move closer to Sebastian.

“Woah, woah! What the hell happened, B? You weren’t this bad when I saw you last!” He smirked, gripping the top of Blaine’s arms gently to stop him from falling over or bumping into anyone else.

“I’m always bad” Blaine practically purred, leaning into the touch and bringing his mouth to Sebastian’s ear, before lowering his voice seductively. “You know, you’re pretty pretty…” Blaine giggled. “Ha, pretty pretty. That’s the same word!”

Sebastian rolled his eyes, gently pulling the other boy away to a less crowded area by the wall. “Yeah, yeah, I’m irresistible. Where’s Sam?”

“I don’t.. uh, what?” Blaine continued to sway, evidently having lost the ability to control his balance. His eyes were glazed over, and his face was a little too pale.

Sebastian glanced around the club looking for the other man, before coming to a decision. “Right, let’s get you home, killer.”

“Yeah! Take me home!” Blaine giggled again, leaning into Sebastian.

The other boy chuckled, draping Blaine’s arm over him, and pulling him towards the exit. “Not like that, B. Not tonight.”

“Spoilsport.”

—-

As the fresh air hit him, Blaine felt a sudden wave of nausea convulse through his entire body. “Ugh, I don’t feel so good, Bas.”

Sebastian looked around them, then led the inebriated man to a secluded patch of grass beside the nightclub, sitting him down before settling beside him, letting the other boy lean against him for support. “Listen to me, B. We’re going to sit here for a bit, see if your head clears a little, then we’re going to get you home, okay? Where do you live now, anyway?”

However, Blaine was in no state to reply. As soon as he opened his mouth, his body spasmed before he leaned away from where Sebastian was sitting, and began to breath really quickly. Seb brought his hand to Blaine’s back, rubbing gently. “It’s alright, B. Let it all out, okay?” he said softly. At his words, Blaine spasmed again, and he proceeded to vomit as Sebastian continued to run his palm up and down his back.

Once he managed to choke the last of it out, Blaine promptly blacked out.


	2. Blaine and Sebastian's Chamber of Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine wakes up, but he has no idea where he is. He fees as though his head is about to burst, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick warning - This chapter contains spoilers from the Harry Potter series.

When Blaine came to, he felt as though his head had been run over by a truck. The first thing he noticed was that it was light outside. The second thing he noticed was that he had no clue whatsoever where he was. He also noticed that he wasn't wearing his own clothes either – instead, he was dressed in a loose red t-shirt, and navy blue pyjama pants. A jolt of fear ran through him as he sprung up from the unfamiliar bed, his head darting around to survey his surroundings.

As he did this, though, nausea overtook him. His stomach rolled unpleasantly as an empty basin was thrust into his hands with practised precision. He didn't have time to think about it before the contents of his stomach emptied out with a choke from Blaine. He felt a gentle hand rubbing his back, as the bed dipped beside him.

“Hey, killer.” The voice was soft and empathetic. It also left Blaine no doubt to where he was. He went home with Sebastian last night? Just how out of it was he, exactly?

As if hearing Blaine's thoughts, Sebastian grinned at him as he removed the basin after checking that there wasn't any more vomit to come for the time being. “Don't worry, B, we didn't sleep together. I prefer my sexual partners to be concious enough to do some of the work at least.” he winked.

Blaine remained silent. He didn't really know what to say, and wasn't sure if he could speak even if he tried. He felt rather than saw Sebastian press a cold glass into his hand, accompanied by two pills in the other. “Take these, and go back to sleep.”

He didn't really have the energy to argue. As soon as he swallowed the pills, he felt his body weighing him down back into the comfort of the memory foam mattress below him.

 

\---

 

The next time he rose into conciousness, it was with crippling hunger pains in his stomach. He grimaced as it growled loudly. Blaine had no idea what time it was, but the light from the window had dimmed into a soft twilight, so he figured he'd probably outstayed his welcome. It wasn't like he and Sebastian were friends, right?

Though, Blaine couldn't help but be silently grateful that the ex-Warbler had been there last night. As soon as the thought emerged though, he fought internally with himself to push it down, along with any other feelings he'd had about the boy in the past. He couldn't allow himself to be drawn in by him. Not again. Not after the infamous slushie incident.

Blaine blinked and sat up, taking in the contents of what he assumed to be Sebastian's bedroom. It was not at all what he expected from a snotty rich teenager. In fact, it was sort of... bare? There didn't seem to be any personal touches at all.

Maybe Sebastian had a guest room. That must be it. All that lay in this room were a simple double bed, green linen curtains that ran from the high windows to the floor, a bedside table and a chest of drawers. The only thing that indicated that someone may spend some time in here was a large, full oak bookshelf, covered in books ranging from the Harry Potter series to Dante's Inferno and Homer's Odyssey. On the bottom shelf there was what looked like educational textbooks stacked carefully in a neater order than the rest of the books. Was Sebastian at college now?

 More importantly, why did Blaine even care?

 “Feeling better, killer?” A smooth voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Sebastian holding a tray with what looked like vegetable soup in a bowl, and beside it a plate with a few slices of bread with two packets of butter on the side.

 Because he was so out of it, Blaine wasn't sure if he had been wearing the same outfit when he woke up earlier, but there was something odd about seeing Sebastian casually draped in a white t-shirt and washed denim jeans that hung low around his hips. He licked his lips.

 “I wasn't sure if you'd be hungry,” Sebastian explained, “but you've been sleeping all day. I think it would do you good to line your stomach with something.”

 Blaine gazed at the boy, completely perplexed. “Why are you doing this?” He took the tray from him regardless, on account of the fact that he felt as though his stomach was going to implode on itself if he didn't fill it soon. Of course, he hadn't eaten since dinner the day before, which would mean it had been around 24 hours. How had he even managed to get himself into such a state?

 Taking a seat next to Blaine, Sebastian sighed heavily. Upon a closer viewing of the boy's face, Blaine could see the bags that lay under his eyes – had he even slept?

 “Look, I know you don't trust me. Fuck, you have every right not to trust me, B. Believe me when I say I have nothing but regret for the shit I put you through. But last night, you were so out of it, and your eyes were glazed over, and you were just so helpless, and Sam-”

 “Shit! Sam!” Blaine almost threw the tray holding the soup onto the bedside table, his head darting around searching for his cell phone.

 “Don't worry, killer,” Seb chuckled softly. “He knows you're safe. I texted him. I, uh.. I may have pretended to be you, and told him you went home to get some sleep.”

 Blaine let out a surprised chortle, scooping up the tray again. A little of the soup had spilled over in his haste to let Sam know he hadn't been drugged and kidnapped, but most of it it remained in the bowl. He took the first taste, and a surge of warmth rose within him. The soup was absolutely delicious – a smooth blend of vegetables with a subtle dash of spice. As he dug in, Sebastian grinned with pride. “I made it myself.”

 “Mph- you cook?” Blaine spluttered, a bit of the bread Sebastian had provided lodged in his mouth.

 “Don't talk with your mouth full, it's rude,” Sebastian teased, nudging Blaine gently. “Yes, I cook. It was one of the things I learned from my...” His sentence cut off, and Sebastian shifted uncomfortably, before continuing as though nothing odd had just happened “my mother.”

 Blaine almost hadn't heard the last part of the sentence – the words were said with the weight of an open wound. Blaine was both shocked and heartbroken by the extent of the raw hurt on the other boy's face. Sebastian cleared his throat, glancing away from Blaine.

 Not wanting to make things too awkward, Blaine changed the subject swiftly. “Uhm, so...” he motioned to the bookshelf with his head, “I never took you for a Harry Potter fan.”

 The tension relieved itself from Sebastian's shoulders, and his let out a soft laugh. “Tell anyone, they'll never find your body, Killer,” he joked. It was evident that he was grateful for the change of subject.

 “Your secret is safe with me,” Blaine grinned. “I'm quite the fanboy, myself.”

 This launched what can only be described as a conversation of epic proportions, in which Sebastian had settled beside Blaine on the bed (on top of the covers, thank you) discussed their favourite books of the series - “No, The Chamber of Secrets is too much of a kids book for me,” Sebastian had teased, declaring The Half-Blood Prince to be the clear winner out of them all, because “seriously, Blaine – Plot twists everywhere!”. This led onto the discussions of their favourite characters - “Harry wouldn't have gotten through the first book if it wasn't for Hermione!” Blaine had argued, before they finished off with a conversation about houses.

 “Ravenclaw, huh? I had you pegged for a Slytherin,” Blaine jabbed.

 Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Hufflepuff, though? Really?”

 “Hey! We're not that bad!” Blaine argued. “Cedric Diggory was a Hufflepuff.”

 “You mean the guy from those Twilight movies? Yeah, congratulations, killer. You got the sparkly vampire on your side.”

 “Shut up,” Blaine replied, rolling his eyes. “Plus, we have Tonks. She was an auror.”

 “Also, dead.”

 “Sebastian!” Blaine exclaimed in mock horror, throwing in an exaggerated clutch at his heart.

 “You're right, too far!” Sebastian laughed, his eyes crinkling at the sides.

Blaine chuckled, glancing over to the other boy. As their eyes met, Blaine started to become all too aware to the fact that their shoulders were touching slightly as they leaned against the headboard of Sebastian's bed, and their legs were sprawled lazily next to each other, almost touching at the knees. Sebastian's expression moulded into one of perplexity. His skin tingled as Sebastian's forearm fell against his, and his stomach had that familiar fluttering feeling.

Before he could even think about what that meant, however, Blaine's ringtone loudly interrupted him. Sebastian drew himself back a little, Blaine's phone clearly breaking whatever spell they had come under while they had been staring at one another. He ignored the twinge of disappointment he felt at the loss of Sebastian's body heat.

“It's Sam,” Blaine explained after taking a look at the caller ID, before swiping the screen. “Hey!”

“ _Where the hell are you?!”_ Sam's voice bellowed through the cell. _“What happened? First you disappear on me, tell me you've went home, and I've just been to your apartment – no answer. Dude, what happened? Are you ok?”_

“I'm fine, Sam, I- Look, I'll explain later, I promise. I gotta go, okay? I'll call back soon, I promise!”

“ _Blai-”_

He cut of the call quickly, throwing his cell back on the bedside table, before shifting himself out of the bed. “I need to go, uhm- I... Thanks. For... you know-” Blaine stumbled through his words, apparently losing his knowledge of the English language. “And, I.. oh, I'm still wearing your clothes.”

Sebastian smirked, “I know. It's super hot.”

Blaine could feel the heat in his cheeks to know that he was blushing. He turned away quickly, hoping Sebastian didn't notice. If he did, however, he didn't say anything.

“Your clothes are in the wash, in case you were wondering. You kind of threw up on them.”

“That explains why you changed me, then?” Blaine glared.

“I was a perfect gentleman, I'll have you know,” Sebastian replied indignantly. “I told you this morning, killer. I prefer my conquests to be concious and consenting.”

“Right,” Blaine nodded. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty – Sebastian had obviously gone out of his way to help Blaine out. Maybe he had been serious after all about turning over a new leaf.

“You can keep those, they're too small for me anyway.” Sebastian stood from the bed, folding his arms. “Guess you'll have to come back for your own clothes.”

Blaine couldn't help but notice that Sebastian didn't sound too put out by that prospect.

“I guess I will,” Blaine replied, a soft smile playing on his lips. “Hey, you didn't answer me last night. How did you even get my number?”

“I told you,” Sebastian teased flippantly, “I have my sources.”

Blaine rolled his eyes.

 

\---

 

It wasn't until he got back into his own apartment that he called Sam back.

He wasn't one to lie, so he explained everything. Sam had been suspicious, of course, but Blaine assured him that Sebastian had been nothing but courteous.

“It was actually _spooky_ , Sam. He only hit on me like twice! And even then, he wasn't really being serious.”

Sam agreed grudgingly that it had been good of Sebastian to make sure Blaine was okay, _“But this doesn't mean he's a good person!”_ he'd practically screamed down the phone.

Blaine couldn't help but think that he was starting to disagree with that particular opinion.

 


	3. Not Sexting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina isn't too happy about Blaine's new sort of friendship. Blaine starts to think that maybe he might be having more than PG thoughts about a certain ex-Warbler captain.

"So what are you going to do, Blaine? You can't exactly mope around the house forever.”  
  
Tina had a point. He'd spent far too much time feeling sorry for himself. So much so that he'd single-handedly screwed up furthering his education and making a life for himself, all because a boy had broken his heart.  
  
He clutched his coffee mug as he thought about how to answer. Sugar & Spice was always quiet this time of day, and he still had about half an hour before he had to return to his shift, so there really was no rush.  
  
Tina picked at her blueberry muffin as she waited patiently for an answer, keeping her eyes trained steadily on Blaine.  
  
He looked around at the oak smoked room decorated in comfortable couches and chairs the colour of the forest - greens of several shades blended with the woods of the floor and tables. The fact of the matter was that he had become quite attached to the place. It wasn't like he needed to work, and he certainly could have afforded a bigger apartment than the studio he currently lived in, but he'd insisted on striking out on his own, all to aware of the fact that he'd messed things up enough. He refused to squander away his parent's money on top of it all.  
  
It wasn't as if they hadn't been supportive. Just understandably disappointed at first. While his father remained characteristically quiet on the matter. Since then, though, his mother had appeared to have moved from disappointment to determined optimism, having pointed out that he could always apply for late entry.  
  
Blaine hadn't really considered it until now.  
  
He opened his mouth to reply to Tina, who had evidently finished her muffin and moved onto taking quiet sips of her Latte.  
  
He was distracted, however, by his text tone.  
 _  
_ _ **SEBASTIAN:**_ _Your clothes are far too small for me._  
  
As Blaine snorted loudly, Tina raised her right eyebrow, momentarily pushing aside their previous conversation.  
  
"I know that look, Blaine Anderson. That's your smitten look," She grinned, excited. "I didn't know you and Kurt were talking again! Though, you have been a bit more optimistic the past week or so."  
  
It was true. Since his night out with Sam, he'd felt like an entirely new person. Not quite one hundred per cent again, but definitely more functional than he had been. He was starting to understand that he could be his own person, with or without Kurt.  
  
"We're not. I haven't heard from him in months" Blaine shrugged as he typed out a quick reply to Sebastian without really thinking about it.  
 _  
_ _ **BLAINE:**_ _Pics or it didn't happen!_  
  
He glanced back at Tina, who was staring at him intently, all tight-lips, suspicion and doubt.  
  
"I'm serious. It's not Kurt."  
  
"Who is it then?"  
  
Blaine shut his eyes, thinking fast. He didn't want to lie to his friend, especially Tina who had been there for him every step of his post-breakup depression. On the other hand, would she really approve of the fact that Blaine had spent the night at Sebastian's house? And would she really believe that nothing had happened? He doubted it.  
  
He was saved a reply, however, when his text tone went off again. Blaine let out a quiet chuckle. It was a picture message of the other boy squeezed into his t-shirt, his lips curled up in a gorgeous smirk that sent tingles shooting right down to areas that it shouldn't be.  
  
God, those lips. They should be illegal.  
  
He was about to set his phone aside when something else about the picture caught his eye. Just below where his too short t-shirt sat, Blaine spotted the soft curve of Sebastian's hipbone. He licked his lips subconsciously taking in the vision of the exposed skin.  
  
"Are you... sexting?" Tina's voice snapped him out of his daze.  
  
"What? No!" Blaine replied, a little too fast. Tina shot him a sceptical look.  
  
"I, uh, I need to get back to work." The truth of it was, Blaine still had about ten minutes to go, but Tina really didn't need to know that.  
  
"This conversation isn't over, Blaine!" Tina warned him as Blaine was retreating behind the counter, trying to ignore the blush that was heating up his cheeks.  
  
His mind kept wandering back to the picture message throughout his shift.  
 __  
He was so fucked.  
  
\---  
  


  
Later that night, he was bombarded with an onslaught of text messages.  
  
 _ **TINA:**_ _So, spill  
  
_ _ **BLAINE:**_ _Tina, there's nothing to tell  
  
_ _ **BLAINE:**_ _I swear  
  
_ _ **BLAINE:**_ _He's just a friend!  
  
_ _ **TINA:**_ _Sweetie, as hard as you're trying to convince both yourself and me, he's not a friend. You were practically licking the phone. Now who is this mystery man who's trying to steal my Blainers away from me?  
  
_ _ **BLAINE:**_ _Blainers? You going to start calling me that now? Why not just move onto Blainykins?  
  
_ _ **TINA:**_ _Nice try but don't change the subject Blainykins.  
  
_ _ **BLAINE:**_ _You're not going to like it  
  
_ _ **TINA:**_ _Oh god. As long as it's not asshole Warbler we're good._  
  
Blaine cringed. Was he really that obvious? Then again, people always did assume Sebastian whenever something was going on. Hadn't Kurt instantly asked if it had been Sebastian that he'd cheated with?  
 _  
_ _ **BLAINE:**_ _Well now I really don't know what to tell you._  
  
He waited, watching his phone with trepidation. As expected, it begun to ring after a few seconds.  
  
 _"Blaine Warbler Anderson, you had better be freaking kidding me!"_ Tina's shrill voice rung out as soon as he picked up the call.  
  
Blaine huffed out a laughter. “Tina, it's not what you think."  
  
 _"My ass it's not what I think. Sebastian, Blaine? Seriously?"_  
  
"He's not that bad." Blaine replied quietly.  
  
 _"Oh, yeah, of course not!" Tina's voice came dripping in a thick coating of sarcasm. "I mean, all he really did was nearly blind you for life, try to get you to cheat on Kurt with him, blackmail Rachel into dropping out of Sectionals - and don't even get me started on the whole steroids crap from last year!"_  
  
Blaine sighed, closing his eyes and taking a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts.  
  
"I know, I know. You're not wrong. Tina, I promise you there is absolutely nothing going on! Look, we ran into each other at a nightclub, we got to talking and-"  
  
"And what, Blaine? One thing led to another? And you woke up in bed together the next morning?"  
  
"Whoa, slow down Tina! I told you, nothing happened! We talked. That was it. Now can we please just drop it?"  
  
Blaine deliberately neglected to mention that he'd spent the night at Sebastian's house, and that for the majority of the next morning he had lain sprawled out in the other boy's bed with the worst hangover of his entire life, resulting in a surprisingly pleasant conversation.  
  
Something told him that Tina wouldn't believe him if he tried to tell her that Sebastian had been a perfect gentleman. Given his past records, he couldn't really blame her.  
 __  
"Fine, whatever. If he fucks you over, don't come crying to me."  
  
She hung up abruptly. Blaine blinked and stared at his phone until his text tone rang out again. However, it wasn't Tina this time.  
  
 _ **SEBASTIAN:**_ _Your jeans are like shorts on me. And way too tight. I'm not even going to send a picture, far too revealing for even me.  
  
_ _ **BLAINE:**_ _It's not my fault you're the height of a giraffe.  
  
_ _ **SEBASTIAN:**_ _A giraffe has nothing on me._  
  
Blaine grinned in spite of himself.

 

_**BLAINE:** Why are you even trying on my clothes, anyway?_

 

_**SEBASTIAN:** I'm bored. Entertain me! Maybe you could do some modelling for me? I can't help but feel this show has been a tad one sided, killer._

 

_**BLAINE:** In your dreams, Seb._

 

_**SEBASTIAN:** How did you know?! _

  
  
\---  
  
They texted back and forth from then on. Blaine still had no idea how the other boy had gotten his number - any time he would ask the other boy would reply with a winky emoticon, so he'd given up for the time being.  
  
Instead, they bantered back and forth - Sebastian would send the occasional innuendo, Blaine would reply giving him a smooth but amusing brush off, glad that the medium of text messages meant that it was impossible for the other boy to see how flustered he really got during their exchanges.  
  


He was definitely attracted to the other boy, and he had to suck it up and admit it to himself. He was, however, determined to leave it at that. First of all, because a small part of him still longed for Kurt. Secondly, because he was starting to enjoy the timid rekindling of their friendship. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Tina was right.  
  
This was _Sebastian Fucking Smythe_ – nicknamed by the New Directions (namely Santana) as 'Asshole Warbler'. The taller boy had caused so much trouble for them in the past, and while Blaine was sure he had indeed "turned over a new leaf", there was still that niggling presence of doubt that told him Sebastian couldn't be trusted.  
  
It's not like he was boyfriend material anyway, and Blaine certainly didn't want to add to the notches on Sebastian's bedpost. He wasn't interested in being a number. At least, not to someone he was kinda starting to consider a friend.  
  
Tina came around within a couple of days. She still wasn't happy about Blaine striking up a friendship with Sebastian, but "you're a big boy, and you're entitled to make your own dumbass mistakes" she had told him begrudgingly, before informing him that he could lick his own wounds if the whole thing fell apart. Blaine assured her again that it was entirely innocent. Tina remained sceptical. From then on, they'd avoided the topic of Sebastian, instead focusing on Blaine's education plans. She was thrilled to hear that Blaine was considering applying for late entry.  
  
He hadn't fully decided yet, though, thinking he may prefer to take a gap year and start with everyone else the following year. Sure, he'd be a year behind, but it would mean starting at an equal place with all the other students instead of coming in as a late entry. He would get the benefit of the full year that way.  
  
He decided to give himself a few weeks some time to weigh up his options.  
  
\---  
  
The next time Blaine actually saw Sebastian in person was about three weeks after the nightclub. He had fixed himself some snacks, loaded up Netflix on his television and changed into his comfort clothes – a pair of sweatpants and an entirely too large Led Zeppelin shirt that once belonged to Puck, who had let Blaine borrow it during a New Directions pre-sectionals all-nighter and forgot to take it back.  
  
As he heard the ping of the microwave that signified that his popcorn was ready, he made his way into the kitchen, raking through the cabinets to find a bowl large enough to accommodate it. It was then that he heard his ringtone from the other room.  
  
Blaine ignored it, figuring it was just Sam, who knew that if Blaine didn't answer on the first call, he would call back once he'd noticed. Curiously, though, his phone had gone silent for only a few seconds before it promptly began to ring again.  
  
Blaine huffed, pulling the bowl out and set it on the counter as his phone rang out for the third time. He frowned, glancing at the digital clock on the cooker, which read 23:05. Who the hell was calling at this time?  
  
Rushing back through to the living room where he'd left his phone on the sofa, and hastily looked at the screen.  
 __ **  
**2 text messages  
3 missed calls  
1 voicemail  
  
"Shit," Blaine whispered. They were all from Sebastian.  
 _  
_ _ **SEBASTIAN:**_ _blaIne i  
  
_ _ **SEBASTIAN:**_ _sor_  
  
It was as though the ex-Warbler had tried to compose a text but wasn't really able to complete it. Was Sebastian drinking again? He hit the button on his phone and listened to the voicemail he had left to see if it would maybe clear things up.  
  
 _"Hey, killer,"_ The boy's voice sounded rough and slurred, and he seemed kind of out of it. Blaine figured he'd been right about the drinking. His heart froze, though, as Sebastian had stopped talking and began to splutter, wretching. _"I- fuck, sorry, I, uh-"_ more wretching, _"sssorry"._  
  
Blaine waited for Sebastian to continue, but the line went silent, until he heard the beep and the automated _"End of messages."_  
  
Swearing under his breath, he scrolled through his contacts and hit Sebastian's name, anxiously waiting for the other boy to pick up.  
  
 _"Blaiiiine!"_ Sebastian giggled as a greeting.  
  
Blaine huffed. "Seb, what the fuck?"  
  
 _"S'nice t'hear from you, killer"_ Sebastian slurred.  
  
"Are you- have you been drinking?" Blaine asked.  
  
Sebastian just giggled again, but this time his breath seemed to catch in his throat and he began to heave.  
  
"Sebastian!"  
  
Once the wretching stopped, the line went silent as Blaine waited patiently for Sebastian to attempt to talk again.  
  
 _"Ooh, I feeeel- I-"_ THUMP.  
  
"Sebastian?"  
  
Blaine waited. Still no reply.  
  
"SEBASTIAN!"  
  
Nothing.  
  
"Fuck. Fuck! Hold on, I'm coming!"  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to make this chapter longer, but I decided to split the fluff from the angsty chapter that will follow this one. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be, as I have a few things to do for Uni. Any updates about the progress of the chapters as well as the fic itself are posted on my tumblr account - killergaycyclops. It's my sideblog, so there's not much there quite yet, but feel free to follow! I mainly use it for writing and posting gifs of Grant Gustin. What else would you need in a blog, really?


	4. Lukewarm Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions run high for both Sebastian and Blaine, and both boys grow closer as they seek comfort in each other.

When he got to Sebastian's house, Blaine rung the doorbell rapidly in a blind panic, panting against the wooden door frame.

No answer. 

"Sebastian! SEBASTIAN!" He yelled, his voice hoarse. 

Fuck it. 

He threw the door open, not really caring about manners or whether Sebastian's parents would be home. If they had been, he was sure the door would have been answered.

Sebastian's house was huge. He hadn't really thought about it the last time he was there, as he was fighting the worst hangover of his life, but finding the taller boy proved to be difficult. 

After searching through a few rooms - the sitting room, a dining room and what appeared to be a study, he froze as he entered the kitchen.

Sebastian lay face down on the cold black and white tiles, between the modern island counters and the fridge, his phone still in his hand. Blaine's heart began to race as he spotted blood smeared on the white tiles below Sebastian's face. 

"Sebastian!" Blaine gasped in horror, rushing over to his side and turning the boy onto his back. "Seb, god, please wake up!" His voice broke a little as Blaine tried to fight the tears.

The boy was pale as snow, but the red and purple bruises that his face was covered in served as a stark contrast. In addition, Blaine noticed some more dried in blood from his nose and the boy's eye was swollen. 

"God, Seb, what the hell happened?!" He sobbed, pulling Sebastian into his arms and cradling him. Once he had a good grip, he pulled his phone from his pocket and rapidly fired in numbers hoping he'd typed them in right with the tears blurring his vision. 

"911, what's your emergency?" 

\--- 

As Blaine sat in the waiting room, he texted Sam back and forth, filling him in on what had happened, however deciding to leave out a few details - mainly the evidence that Sebastian had been beaten up pretty badly. 

Blaine closed his eyes, trying to quell the rage and surge of protectiveness that he felt at the thought.

_**SAM:** so what happened?! _

_**BLAINE:** I don't know! I got to his house and there was no answer, so I just ran in because I was panicking! It took me a while to find him - his house is HUGE, Sam. And then I found him lying on the kitchen tiles unconscious - he was so pale, and he stopped breathing for a minute, I was so fucking scared, I had to perform CPR until the ambulance got there and now I have no fucking clue what's happening. All i know is that they think he overdosed but they don't know on what, or why. _

_**SAM:** And uv been there for 3 hours? Urself? _

_**BLAINE:** Yes _

_**SAM:** go home, man. It's 3 in the morning. Arent u working tomorrow?_

_**BLAINE:** I can't. Not until I know he's ok _

_**SAM:** Ok. Let me know when u hear, but I need to go to bed, got class in the morning. Night, dude. _

_**BLAINE:** night _

Blaine stared blankly at his phone, then scrolled through it until he found Candy Crush, resorting to the company of shitty Facebook games until he was called in.

He had a feeling he'd be in the waiting room for quite a while. 

 

\--- 

Blaine didn't hear anything until around 6.30am, when a short red-headed nurse walked in, glancing at the clipboard in her arms as she read out the name. 

"Blaine? Blaine Anderson?" 

He looked up from his phone and blinked, before pocketing it and approaching the nurse. 

Blaine followed the woman through some tall heavy doors, and through the maze of pale cream tiled corridors.

Blaine felt a little queasy, and he wasn't sure whether to chalk it down to his nerves, or the smell of chemicals in the air. 

Just as he was starting to wonder exactly how far away Sebastian was being kept, they stopped before a dimly lit corridor filled with identical glass doors, covered with curtains from the inside. 

"He's in the second room to the right, sweetie. He's been a little out of it, but he's starting to gain his senses again" the nurse replied quietly, ushering him towards Sebastian's room. 

As he reached for the door handle, though, the nurse spoke again. 

"Take care of him, Mr Anderson. That boy needs someone to keep an eye on him." 

Blaine's mouth open and shut a few times, but he struggled to come up with a reply, so the nurse just gave him a soft smile, a pat on the shoulder and then left him standing alone, gripping the handle. 

He shut his eyes for a few seconds, took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, before he moved the handle and the door clicked open. 

The dim room was pretty bare - white-grey tiles everywhere, a few black plastic chairs and a bed draped in an ugly green bedsheets. On the table beside the bed sat a lamp, the only source of light in the room, and a small plastic cup with water that appeared to have been half-drank. 

Gathering his courage, Blaine turned his attention to the boy in the bed, and felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. Never before had he seen Sebastian look so vulnerable. He was avoiding Blaine's gaze, staring intently at his hands, and his eyebrows were knitted together in a timid, pained expression, as though he expected Blaine to throw his right hook hard in his face any moment now. 

His skin was still too pale, and the hospital gown's sleeves sat above his arms, letting him truly see the extent of the damage the boy had suffered. Ugly bruises the shades of browns and purples lined his arms. His face was still bruised and battered, and he swelling on his eye was beginning to form into a dark bruise. 

Taking a seat on the bed next to Sebastian's legs, Blaine reached out to him automatically, running his thumb gently down Sebastian's face. The boy flinched a little at first, but then he leaned into the touch, closing his eyes with a soft sigh. 

"What happened, Seb?" Blaine whispered softly, trying not to startle the other boy. 

Sebastian shut his eyes, turning away from Blaine's piercing eyes. That was when Blaine saw it. A single tear slid down Sebastian's face as he replied, his voice hoarse and strained. "Please, can we not do this tonight, B?" 

And what more could Blaine really do? Sebastian was staring intently at him now, his eyes pleading. And maybe it was this that made Blaine relent, deciding that the boy had been through enough for one night.

Instead, Blaine let his palm skim gently over the bruised and battered skin on Sebastian's arms, just light enough that it would not hurt him. It was enough, however, to send a surge of warmth through Blaine's chest, and a flush to his cheeks.

If Sebastian noticed, though, he said nothing. He did seem to relax a little at each gentle touch from Blaine, so without really giving it too much thought, he stroked his fingers softly back down his arm until he reached hand. Sebastian blinked as Blaine wrapped his hand around his own and laced their fingers together. 

"You know, this is the second time we've been in bed together..." Sebastian leered suggestively, wagging his eyebrows. 

Blaine snorted at Sebastian's blatantly obvious attempt to break the tension, throwing a gentle push to Sebastian's shoulder. "Baaaas!", he whined, shooting him a glare.

"What?! It's not my fault you insist on stealing my bed all the time!" the other boy replied, feigning wide-eyed innocence. 

"Perv," Blaine chuckled, his eyes softening at the other boy.

He didn't want to push Sebastian into talking about anything he was uncomfortable with, but he couldn't help the concern that he felt for his friend. So instead, he just asked; "seriously though, how are you feeling?" 

Avoiding his gaze, Sebastian stared hard at the ceiling as he answered, "I'm... okay?" 

Blaine brought his hands to Sebastian's face, and Sebastian lowered his eyes to meet Blaine's automatically. 

"Seriously, Bas. I'm worried about you. I... fuck, I care about you, okay? You're my... my friend. And friends don't let their friends suffer," he frowned, his eyebrows pinching together slightly, "and you don't need to tell me who did this to you," he ran his thumb over the darkness below Sebastian's eye lightly, but he didn't even flinch, his green eyes still fixed on Blaine's, "but just know I am here for you." 

Sebastian sighed softly, breaking the eye contact again, his eyes shutting as the boy leaned back against the hard headboard of he hospital bed. He looked as Blaine felt - physically and emotionally drained. 

Sensing that Sebastian had heard him out, but didn't really want to talk about it quite yet, Blaine stood from the bed, ignoring the pang he felt at the loss of warmth from the other boy's body heat.  

"Get some sleep, Bas" Blaine whispered softly. Before he left, he leaned down next to Sebastian, adjusting his pillow and helping him lower his head comfortably.

Blaine kissed him gently on the cheek and Sebastian let out what sounded like a relieved sigh, before his breathing evened out into a deep slumber.

Blaine smiled softly at the sleeping ex-Warbler. There was almost a sort of innocence to him like this. He would never believe it had been the same boy that had put Blaine in the hospital a while back. 

He decided he liked this Sebastian much better. 

 

\--- 

 

By the time Blaine had gotten home, it was daylight outside. He was supposed to be starting work in two hours time. 

Blaine cringed, typing out a quick text to his boss telling him he would be in a few hours late that morning, and that he would explain when he saw him.

 

\---

As expected, Tony had been really understanding about Blaine's lateness, once Blaine had explained that he had stayed at the hospital all night with his friend. 

"It's not like we're ever over-run with customers," he had told Blaine. "Besides, you're only two hours late. But maybe you should go home and get some more sleep. You look like shit, kid." 

"Gee, thanks!" Blaine snorted. "I'm fine, Tony. I just need to have some caffeine then I'll be able to push through it." 

Tony nodded, patting Blaine's shoulder in empathy. "Have some coffee, then you can start your shift."

Blaine sipped his Mocha, silently thanking his lucky stars that he had such an understanding and laid back boss. 

Tony was a short, stocky balding man, with features that reminded Blaine of his own grandfather when he was still alive. He seemed a little rough and tough on the outside, but through getting to know the man, Blaine knew that he really was just a big teddy bear deep down. 

 

\---

 

Since it was a slow day, Tony let Blaine off his shift a little earlier than usual. 

For this reason, Blaine found himself back at the hospital at visiting hours, armed with a bag with some baked goods (a few scones, cakes and muffins) and a cup holder with two coffees - one for Blaine, and one for Sebastian. 

"Thanks, Killer." Sebastian whispered hoarsely as Blaine handed his coffee to him. 

"You're welcome, Bas." Blaine smiled fondly. 

Sebastian nodded, patting the bed beside him so that Blaine would sit next to him. 

He tried not to sigh loudly at the contact, but Sebastian leaned into his touch as he sat down. Their bodies pressed together, and Blaine wrapped his arms around the other boy comfortingly. 

And amazingly, Sebastian let himself be held. 

Both boys lay their quietly, until Blaine began to feel Sebastian shake in his arms. 

"Bas... hey, hey... shh, it's ok, you're okay," Blaine soothed, running his free hand gently through Sebastian's hair. 

"It's not," Sebastian breathed, shuddering. "I- Blaine, you don't need to do this." 

Blaine raised an eyebrow, drawing back so he could look at Sebastian's face.

The other boy looked so fragile, as though he could shatter into a million pieces at any moment, and his expression was guarded. Blaine really yearned for the confident and cocky boy he'd known for the past two years. 

"I told you last night, Bas. You're my friend and I'm here for you." 

"I don't deserve you," Sebastian sighed, burying his face in Blaine's neck. 

Blaine lost track of how long they had been... well, he had to face it - snuggling. But by the time they broke apart, their coffees were lukewarm. They drank them together anyway, and shared one of the muffins from the bag of baked goods in companionable silence. 

As Blaine left the hospital that day, he found himself wondering about the events of the last couple of days. He had his... suspicions about what had happened, but he really needed to try to get Sebastian to open up to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I've been busy working on Uni stuff, but I managed to get this typed out in-between. This one was difficult to write, purely because I'm trying not to rush the story too much, but I'm trying not to drag it on either. I hope I've managed to balance that out enough. Thanks for the reviews and kudos :D I always like to get feedback to know what I'm doing right or wrong (please, by all means - if there's something I'm doing wrong I'm happy to take constructive criticism on board).  
> Thanks for reading the chapter. I'd love to hear what you all think!


	5. Talk to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine gets some unwelcome news via Facebook, and runs to Sebastian for comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! This one's a little shorter than the others? I mean, not by much, but it felt like the right place to end the chapter. Also, I know my chapters are pretty short as it is, and it's purely because it's what seems to work for me. I've tried to work with longer chapters before and it just seems to end up with me babbling needlessly, so please forgive me. Hope y'all like the new chapter! Thanks for the reviews and kudos so far. I love you guys! <3
> 
> Oh, and warnings for mentions of abuse and suicide in this chapter. I keep forgetting to mention that. Though, the story focuses pretty heavily on it so it is tagged as such.

Kurt Hummel is in a relationship.  
  
Blaine blinked at his screen, his now empty coffee cup held loosely in his hand. He had been scrolling through his Facebook news feed when the status had caught his eye.  
  
Kurt Hummel. His Kurt. Was in a relationship. And wasn't that just a hard blow to the fucking gut?  
  
He wasn't sure how long he had been staring at the screen for. All he knew was that his brain was at a standstill - struggling to process the information in front of him.  
  
Kurt Hummel is in a relationship.  
  
Blaine felt like he was going to puke.  
  
\---  
  
**7 text messages  
3 missed calls  
  
** His friends sure were persistent. It had been two hours since Kurt's new relationship status, and still all he could feel was numb disbelief.  
  
Oh, and anger. That was new.  
  
Because Kurt fucking Hummel, the boy that Blaine had spent fucking years in a relationship with,the boy who recently broke off their engagement because he didn't feel ready to marry him, the boy who broke his heart only seven months ago, had updated his Facebook status saying that he was in a relationship and didn't even have the decency to warn Blaine beforehand? To hear the news from him rather than through a god-damned computer screen?  
  
The anger simmering in the bottom pit of his stomach boiled to it's peak as he let out a cry of rage, slamming his fist into his bedroom wall, causing the shelves laden with books beside it to shake a little from the vibration.  
  
Blaine shut his eyes tight, trying to blink back the tears. Maybe he wasn't as over the relationship as he thought he was.  
  
He really needed to get out for a while.  
  
\---  
  
Two days. Sebastian had been in the hospital for two days. He let out a sigh, leaning back against the hard headboard, his glasses propped on the end of his nose as he skimmed the book that he wasn't really reading, due to being lost in his own thoughts.  
  
It had also been two days since he'd seen or heard from his father.  
  
He wasn't sure how we felt about that one.  
  
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, huh?"  
  
Sebastian felt himself perk up a little at the voice, peering over his book at the other boy.  
  
"Hey, Killer." He smiled softly, sitting up and patting the bed beside him. If Blaine noticed the visitors chairs beside the bed, he said nothing as he squeezed next to Sebastian on the bed, leaning his head on his shoulder.  
  
For some reason since the first night Blaine had visited him in the hospital ward, Blaine had been more touchy feely with Sebastian. Sebastian wasn't complaining. This seemed different, though. Blaine leaned into him, his body pressed against Sebastian's side as he clutched onto Sebastian's gown.  
  
The other boy was also noticeably shaking, and his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy.  
  
"Hey... what's up, B?" Sebastian soothed, turning on his side to face Blaine, taking the other boy into his arms.  
  
"It... it's stupid.." Blaine sniffed, sinking into Sebastian and pressing his face into his chest.  
  
"Talk to me"  
  
Blaine tensed, and Sebastian frowned. He opened his mouth, about to apologise for whatever dumb ass thing he'd done to upset his friend, when Blaine started talking.  
  
\---  
  
"I'm being petty, right?" Blaine mused, looking up at the ex-Warbler. "I- I mean, it's not like we're together anymore... it's been over half a year and I just... I guess I'm just not as over it as I thought I was."  
  
Sebastian cleared his throat, tilting Blaine's chin upwards so that he was looking at Sebastian instead of hiding in his hospital robes. "What can I do to help you?"  
  
At that, Blaine huffed a soft laugh, his eyes darting away from Sebastian's. "I just- I needed to get out. I needed to talk to someone. Someone who wasn't friends with my ex. I don't think I could handle hearing about him and his new... b-boyfriend." At the last word, Blaine's shoulders sunk and his face crumpled.  
  
Sebastian sat up on the bed entirely, his expression weary as he wriggled himself free of Blaine, but their eyes were still locked with one another.  
  
Blaine didn't really think about what he was doing when he pulled Sebastian back into him, their chests colliding. He could feel Sebastian's heart beat frantically against him. Their faces were so close together that Blaine could feel the puff of Sebastian's breath on his lips.  
  
So he nudged forward, capturing the other boy's lips onto his own. He felt Sebastian freeze at the contact, so Blaine pulled back.  
  
"I... fuck, Seb, I'm sorry, I-"  
  
Sebastian touched his lips with his fingertips, his eyes piercing Blaine's still in an unreadable expression.  
  
"Why?"  
  
That was not what he was expecting.  
  
"Uhm... I guess, I just... wanted to try it?" Blaine sighed, breaking the eye contact in favour of staring at his hands, which he was wringing together nervously. How could he possibly have fucked up so bad?  
  
"What is this, Blaine?" Sebastian looked crestfallen. Fuck. This was really not how he was expecting this visit to go.  
  
"Bas," Blaine began delicately, pulling the other boy's hand into his and squeezing gently. "I'm sorry. I didn't- I wasn't really thinking and you.. before, when I was with Kurt, I always wanted to- and I couldn't, but you kept saying things, and I-I-"  
  
He could feel his heart threatening to jump out of his throat as he clung onto his friend's hand like a lifeline.  
  
"Please don't hate me."  
  
Sebastian's posture soothed, his shoulders relaxing a little. He stroked Blaine's cheek with his palm, rubbing away a tear that Blaine hadn't even noticed had escaped.  
  
"Listen, killer. Please don't take this the wrong way. I don't want to be your rebound." The ex-Warbler squeezed his hand back gently, a guarded expression lay on his face.

"That's not what this is!" Blaine spluttered.  
  
Sebastian sighed. "Yes it is, Blaine. And I'm flattered. Believe me, if you were just some random at a nightclub, I would be all over that perky little ass of yours," - the tightening in Blaine's chest loosened a little as he let out a gentle chuckle. "But you're not. You never were, B."

Blaine drew his eyebrows together pensively, frowning at Sebastian. “What do you mean?”

Sebastian wasn't looking at him anymore. He seemed to have become particularly interested in a loose thread on the bedsheets, and was seemingly picking at it subconsciously.

“ _Sebastian?_ What do you mean?”

Sebastian sighed. “Forget about it, B. Let's talk about something else.”

Blaine opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it again. This was his chance.

“Alright,” he began, taking a deep breath. “Sebastian... what happened? The night... I brought you here?”

“Anything but that,” Sebastian replied, gritting his teeth.

“Bas... I care about you, and I need to make sure you're okay. And it doesn't seem like you're okay. You need to talk to someone, and it doesn't seem like you're going to do that on your own any time soon. So please? Talk to me?”

A tense silence filled the room as Sebastian continued to pick at the loose thread, a little harsher than before. Blaine wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but the other boy's face looked as though it was contorted in physical pain at the memory.

He tried to push down the guilt for being the cause of that expression. This was for Sebastian's own good, after all.

“You'll look at me differently. You'll think I'm weak. Don't make me do this, killer.” Sebastian pleaded, his voice strained as though he was struggling not to fall into a panic attack.

Before Blaine could soothe the other boy, however, the door to the private ward opened with a _click_ , revealing the redhead nurse that had accompanied Blaine to Sebastian's room the night Sebastian had been brought into the ER.

“Sebastian? Your father's here to take you home.

Blaine felt Sebastian stiffen at his side. If the pain in his face had been obvious before, it was nothing compared to his expression at that moment. His eyes looked as though they were ready to fall out of his skull. He looked absolutely stricken.

No, terrified.

That's when it all really clicked for Blaine. The bruises, the overdose, Sebastian's general mood over the past few days. Maybe the past few months. The boy really had been different from the cocky teenager that he'd known from before. It was all down to Sebastian's father.

“Do you want me to stay, Bas?” Blaine asked gingerly.

Sebastian rapidly shook his head, seemingly not trusting himself with words.

The nurse exited the room. Blaine moved to follow her, but hesitated at the door as it swung shut behind the woman, turning back to his friend.

“You know you don't have to go through this alone, right? Seb, whatever he's doing to you, whatever he's holding over you, you really don't have to put up with it.”

“I deserve it.”

Blaine almost didn't hear Sebastian's reply, it had been whispered quietly with an air of self-loathing. Blaine looked at the ground, not trusting himself to leave if he allowed himself to look at Sebastian's face again.

“You don't. You deserve so much better, Bas. If... something happens again, you'll call me, right? I'll come get you. Or, fuck, you come to me. It doesn't matter. Just- please. Don't try to kill yourself.”

The tense silence was back. It had been the first time Blaine had brought up the overdose, and he was surprised that Sebastian didn't try to deny it. He didn't say anything. So Blaine left the room begrudgingly, hoping that the other boy had at least heard him out.

As he followed the nurse through the sterile corridors, he passed a tall man dressed in a pinstripe suit – far to formal to be visiting a hospital, if Blaine was totally honest. The man was tall, and his face was drawn in a tight, tense expression. Blaine had a feeling that the expression was permanent. He walked down the corridor with long, purposeful strides, his tall gangly legs carrying him towards Sebastian's room.

Blaine froze, turning back as the door closed with a click.

“Come on, son. Visiting time is over. Let the boy be with his father.”

He glanced back to the nurse, brow furrowed and glowering.

She sighed, nodding her head pointedly towards the doors that led to the exit. “Come on, sweetie. I can't let you back in. I have specific orders. You need to leave. You can see your friend when he's home, right? I'm sure he'll appreciate the visit,” she grinned encouragingly.

As nice as the nurse was, he was in no mood for pleasantries. He marched past the woman towards the exit with a heavy heart, fighting the urge to run back to Sebastian with every step.

 


	6. 10080 Minutes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter for you guys! Uni is in full swing right now, and I've started exam study so sorry if the updates become more sporadic. Warning for extreme angst and Sebastian whump in this one. I had actually intended on having a bit in Blaine's POV here, but I ended up writing way more than I thought I would on Sebastian's backstory so I decided just to break the chapter up. This chapter is not for the weak of heart. Seriously. My poor baby! I feel awful for making him suffer so. Next chapter will be way lighter. Let me know what you think!
> 
> EDIT: Also - I removed Brittana from the tags, because they're not featuring as heavily as I originally anticipated. They will still be part of the story, though. I just don't want to mislead anyone into thinking it's a Brittana story (though Brittana deserve all the happiness and puppies and love and they shall receive attention here, but the main focus will be Seblaine).

One week.

It had been one week since he'd returned home from the hospital, and all he had received from his father was a command to stay in his bedroom, and then radio silence as the door clicked behind the retreating figure, the lock slotting into place to ensure Sebastian didn't break that command.

Radio silence was all he experienced afterwards. Three times a day he would see Edgar, father's snooty servant who had his massive round-shaped nose wedged so far up Sebastian's dad's ass, Sebastian was sure he'd never seen the light of day in his life. Edgar was a short toad-like man who's facial expression was fixed in an eternal glare, usually aimed towards Sebastian.

Sebastian never dared to speak to the man, of course. He'd learned the hard way to just obey his father's words without question. His trip to the hospital had erased any notion of questioning his father's demands. He would follow Edgar quietly to the dining room, eat whatever meagre meal was slammed down carelessly in front of him, then retreat back to his bedroom, which Edgar would lock behind him.

Seven days since he'd spoken to anyone.

Seven days since he'd been outside.

Seven days since his father had confiscated his phone without a word.

Most importantly, seven days since he'd seen or heard from Blaine.

Sebastian sighed, knowing that his friend would be worried about him. Trusting, caring Blaine, who for some reason gave a shit about whether or not Sebastian was alive. Probably the only person in existence, in fact, to give a shit whether or not Sebastian was alive.

He had no idea how or when Blaine managed to forgive him for all the crimes he'd committed against the boy. Blaine was a ray of light, and Sebastian was just a bottom-dwelling creature who didn't deserve to even be in the same vicinity as the other boy, never mind be called his friend.

He stared blankly at the wall from the space that he currently occupied on the floor next to the door, as though he were waiting for some means of escape. He drew his knees up, wrapping his arms around his legs and burying his head in his arms as he began to shake.

The anxiety was getting worse. He was fairly certain this was what his father wanted. To break him down so that he was nothing but a nervous wreck. It certainly wouldn't be the first time it's happened, and he was sure it would be far from the last.

His father hadn't always been so cruel. Sebastian remembered fondly his childhood in Paris – days filled with laughter and family time. His mother doting on her children as his father watched on, his lips tilted upwards and a crinkle in his eye. Long walks on the seashore as Claret hounded her big brother to build sandcastles with her, and how could Sebastian ever refuse those big forest green eyes and the petted lip that his sister would give him when she wanted something?

He wondered if he would ever see his sister again. He missed her dearly, but he couldn't really complain about the fact that she had escaped the fate that had befallen Sebastian after the accident. He often found himself wondering if she would even remember him.

As far as Sebastian was concerned, his father had died when his mother did. The broken shell that had been left behind had had his soul deformed and mangled so much that there was nothing left of the man who would care for his children, and follow his wife around as though she was the light of his entire world. In his place was a monster, who beat on his son, who cursed him for having survived the accident that killed his wife, who constantly told him that it should have been Sebastian who had died in that car wreck.

It was no less than Sebastian deserved, he reasoned.

Sebastian had been out of control after the death of his mother. His father had quickly accepted a job relocation in Ohio, leaving his daughter behind with their aunt (Marie - Sebastian's mother's sister) because he claimed that Claret resembled their mother too much. Sebastian had been tearful as he'd clung onto his sister, clutching at her for dear life before his father dragged him down the garden path and into the car that carried him kicking and screaming to his new life.

When he found himself enrolled in a new school so far away from his life in Paris and away from the memories of a happy home, he, too, had become bitter. His father had grown increasingly distant, bellowing out demands and using Sebastian as a verbal punching bag when Sebastian would come home from the boarding school for the weekend.

His first year in Dalton had been the worst. He hated everyone. He hated everything. He wanted everyone to suffer like he did. He was on a path of self-destruction, and damn everyone who would get in his way.

Sebastian had long since known of his sexuality, but he'd never made it past first base with a boy that he was sort of friends with in Paris. Pierre. It had been sweet and innocent, and really could have gone somewhere if it hadn't been for the fact that Sebastian was worried about his parents finding out about his preferences. He hadn't been ready for them to know.

He lost his virginity in the dark alleyway next to Scandals one of the first nights he had arrived in Ohio to a much older man that he didn't get the name of. The man had been rough, and Sebastian had clenched onto the wall as the man had pounded into him, ignoring the wetness on his cheeks that he had fought so hard not to emerge. If the man fucking him had noticed, however, he showed no signs. He finished up and left Sebastian in pain and shaken, alone in a cold dark alley without even so much as a thank you or goodbye.

The pain, the self-hatred, the distraction – it was exactly what he needed. He started sleeping around, having no care for any of the nameless men that he had bedded. Toilet stalls, filthy motels, abandoned alleyways, truck stops – he never really cared about the location. All he cared about was thinking about anything but everything he had lost.

The physical beatings started when word had gotten back to his father about his conquests. He still didn't know exactly how his father had found out – all he knew was that his father had come home from work one day, shaking with rage, and calling him all the names that had Sebastian had feared he would be called if he had come out to his family. Sebastian tried to run at first, but his father would usually back him into a corner or against the wall, one hand choking him as the other beat the living shit out of him.

Of course, his father had been smart not to leave any visible marks. Once he had retuned from a weekend at his father's house with a black eye, but under strict instruction, Sebastian knocked back any curiosity by claiming he'd gotten into a fight that weekend.

He hadn't made any friends at Dalton. The boys had learned to stay away from him unless they wanted to be met with a cool glare and sharp, wounding words. Sebastian prided himself on his ability to pick out people's weaknesses in a matter of seconds, and found tearing his fellow students apart with his words was way more therapeutic than the shrink he was being made to see on a weekly basis.

Through sheer fear and intimidation, he'd managed to make Captain of both the Warblers and the Lacrosse team, which tended to keep him extremely busy. He spent the rest of his time alone, either at the Lima Bean or in his dorm working on his schoolwork and scaring away anyone who would dare to approach him.

That, of course, is when he met Blaine. Sweet, wonderful Blaine who oozed sunshine and rainbows and lit up the entire room as he entered it.

He had heard about Blaine through the Warblers, of course. He had been their lead before, and Sebastian had got a strong sense of bitterness towards the New Directions for having stolen their “star”. He could use this, he figured, to his advantage. If he could gain the boy's trust and lure him back to Dalton, his team would come out on top.

Maybe, then, Sebastian's father would be proud of him. Maybe he would see that Sebastian was worth more than cruel words and beatings.

When he began to get close to Blaine, though, Sebastian found that he wasn't immune to the boy's appeal. In fact, he found that he was an entirely different person for the few moments that they had spent together. They started meeting for coffees, talking on the phone, and for the first time since he moved away from Paris, he began to feel like he might want someone else in his life.

Blaine had a boyfriend, though. Kurt Hummel. Kurt Fucking Hummel. How dare he march into his and Blaine's conversation, and wind himself around the other boy like a slimy snake who bore his teeth at Sebastian for so much as talking to him.

He hadn't exactly kept his attraction to Blaine a closely guarded secret. The rejection stung, though. The way that Blaine gazed at his boyfriend as though he had single-handedly hung the moon and stars made Sebastian's stomach twist with something vile and wicked.

When he'd invited the couple to Scandals, Sebastian had made sure to press himself into Blaine, making damn sure that his stupid lady-faced boyfriend was watching – that he knew that Sebastian was ready to claim Blaine for himself.

Of course, that had all went pear-shaped when his envy had led to the slushie incident, landing Blaine in hospital. Sebastian had never hated himself more. As he watched the boy sprawled out in front of him in a pool of red ice, clutching onto his eye, Sebastian's apology got caught in the back of his throat. All he could do was stare in horror, while the rest of the Warblers flitted around him, similarly unsure of what to do. His heart was racing and he wanted nothing more than to run to Blaine and throw himself on the ground before him and beg for his forgiveness.

But he didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve it then, and he didn't deserve it now. Maybe that's what made it so easy for Sebastian to walk away, to leave Blaine to his boyfriend and his shiny life that didn't include Sebastian.

Karofsky had been the final straw. Afterwards, Sebastian's self-hatred peaked to a new high. He became detached again and allowed the depression to take over entirely. He was no longer bitter, no longer angry – he just wanted to stop hurting people. He let Hunter take over the Warblers, taking a back seat and overlooking everything that Hunter was doing to the group, reasoning that he had done much worse and that it wasn't him that was doing the damage this time. Deep down he knew that he was still letting it happen, though. He couldn't find it in himself to care too much, and the anti-depressants he'd been prescribed did little to ease him.

He and Blaine barely spoke afterwards. It still stung in his final year, though, when Blaine stormed in asking for help to propose to Kurt. Sebastian couldn't turn him down, though. He'd caused Blaine enough suffering, and he thought that the only way to give Blaine the happiness he deserved was to help him make amends with the other boy so that the could both run off into the sunset together hand-in-hand, and never look back. So he sang the stupid song, did the stupid dance and kept his feelings well and truly guarded.

Sebastian was used to being left behind at that point.

The beatings from his father dried up eventually. By the time Sebastian had left Dalton, they had stopped entirely. Instead, his father pretty much ignored his existence beyond ensuring that Sebastian was taking the courses that his father desired. Sebastian had never been interested in Law – he had actually wanted to go to NYADA, having discovered long ago his love for the stage and how it made him forget his troubles.

Sebastian attended OSU at his father's insistence, however - for about a month, then he promptly dropped out. He couldn't bring himself to regret it until the day he gathered the courage to tell his father, who had been rarely at home enough to notice by himself. Incidentally, the very same day that Blaine had found Sebastian passed out on the kitchen tiles, ODed on his anti-depressants and beaten and bruised to a pulp.

Funny how things worked out, really. Blaine never did get the happiness he deserved, and all Sebastian was left with was regret and pain. He couldn't really regret letting Blaine back into his life, though. Texting him at that nightclub had been the best decision of his messy, fucked up life. What were the odds that Blaine still had the same phone number?

He never planned to tell Blaine, however, that he had deleted it and remembered every single digit in that fucked up head of his. That was just embarrassing.

 _Seven days_ , Sebastian frowned, wondering how long his father was planning on keeping him locked in for, and what would happen to him afterwards.


	7. Hooked on a Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine makes an important realisation. Kurt isn't too happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh... yeah. This chapter was originally going to span over the entire week, but then I realised that I'd have to split it so that my word count world be consistent with previous chapters. I mean, it still ended up longer, but I was at like 6000 words in comparison to my usual 2000+ words so it got split in half. Most of the next chapter is written, so I'll be able to update again next week despite my heavy workload at Uni. I apologise in advance for any mistakes made in this chapter. I've read over it but you know how difficult it can be to spot your own mistakes. I really should get a beta reader for my next fic. Anyway, I'll read back over it tomorrow and correct any mistakes, I'm just really impatient and want to get this chapter out.  
> Note that this chapter takes place from when Blaine leaves the hospital, until the day before Sebastian's POV in the last chapter (I may actually switch both chapters around at a later date, I realise this makes more sense now).  
> Don't worry guys, I'm getting to Seblaine. Soon. Very soon.  
> Oh, and I'm sorry but also not sorry about the events in this chapter?  
> Anyway, as always, let me know what you think!

**Day One (Sunday):**

Blaine had left the hospital with a heavy heart, one hand on his pocket unconsciously draped over his phone, as though willing it to vibrate.

The thing is, he really wasn't comfortable leaving Sebastian alone with his father. Not after everything that his father had evidently done to him. Blaine might not have known the full story, but he definitely knew enough to know that the last thing Sebastian needed was to be around his father.

Still, there wasn't much that he could do, short of kidnapping the other boy. Which, Blaine had to admit, was fucking tempting.

His train of thought was interrupted by his text tone, which startled him. All hope of it being Sebastian, though, had drained pretty quickly at a quick glance of his screen. Blaine frowned, slightly taken aback by the disappointment he felt at the name on the screen.

_**KURT:** In Lima for the weekend. Want to see you. Can we hang out? Breadstix? Friday afternoon? _

Blaine blinked at the screen, wondering if he'd read the text right. Kurt wanted to hang out? He's been MIA from Blaine's life for _months_ , yet he's texting as though they've been friends the entire time?

He could never really refuse Kurt, though. Which is why he texts back-

_**BLAINE:** Sure. 2 o'clock? _

-then instantly feels a pang of guilt, not dissimilar to how he felt after cheating on Kurt (though, of course, not as strong). Blaine frowned, eyebrows crinkling his forehead in deep thought. What the hell was that about?

Maybe it was because of his disastrous pass at Sebastian. Sebastian had been right, though, hadn't he? Blaine had only kissed him because he was hurting. So why had the rejection left Blaine feeling so sour?

_**KURT:** Great, see you then! Can't wait to see you xx _

 

**Day Three (Tuesday):**

_**TINA:** Are you guys getting back together? If so, that's awesome!! :D _

_**BLAINE:** You're overthinking this, T. It's just lunch _

_**TINA:** Blainers, you two belong together. I swear, if you can't see that then I don't know what's wrong with you. _

_**BLAINE:** He has a boyfriend, Tina. We're not getting back together! He probably just wants to try being friends. We always said once everything had smoothed over we'd give friendship a go._

Blaine sat his phone down as he lay back on his bed, pulling his laptop over his legs. Tina really was over-thinking things. Kurt had a boyfriend, right? Plus, they were no good together. Both he and Kurt knew it.

He missed him,though. He missed warm nights curled around one another whispering sweet nothings until the sun rose. He missed Sunday dinners at the loft, and the way they'd giggle at their own private jokes. God, he even missed the bickering and the arguing. He would kill for someone to bicker and argue with again.

Sighing, Blaine clicked onto his Facebook page, and was a little surprised to see that he had a message. Upon opening it, he saw that it was a group message started by Santana, and sent to everyone that had been in the New Directions. It seemed like they'd already been conversing for a while. Blaine scrolled up a little to read from the top.

 _**Santana Lopez  
**_ _Yo losers! I'm gonna be back in Ohio for the weekend, so clear your Saturday night schedules. We're gonna party it up Lima style!_

 _**Noah “Puck” Puckerman  
**_ _Lima style? Party it up? What did they do to you in New York, Tana?_

 _**Brittany S Pierce  
**_ _can lord tubbington come?_

 **Santana Lopez  
** _I'm not sure they'd let him into any nightclubs, Britt. Sorry.  
_ _And shut your pie hole, Puck, before I come down there and prove once and for all that I can still beat your scrawny ass._

 _**Noah “Puck” Puckerman  
**_ _Ah, there she is! You ready to come back from the dark side yet?_

 _**Santana Lopez  
** _ _Never!_

 _**Brittany S Pierce  
**_ _she can't make the lesbians angry, they're already mad at me for my thing with sam_

 _**Sam Evans  
**_ _nice to know our “thing” meant so much to you, Britt_

 _**Santana Lopez  
**_ _Back off, Trout. You know you were just a placeholder. Right, Britt? ;)_

 _**Mercedes Jones  
**_ _Hold up a minute, you two are back together?_

 _**Santana Lopez  
**_ _Nice of you to join us 'Cedes._

 _**Brittany S Pierce  
**_ _Santana has soft skin and shiny hair_

 _**Sam Evans  
**_ _That doesn't really answer the question at all_

 Blaine raised an eyebrow. He'd heard from Rachel that Santana and Brittany were in talks of getting back together, but he didn't mention it to Sam because he had no idea how concrete it was. By the way the conversation had been going though, it seemed as though both girls were on the right track. He felt bad for his best friend, but Sam and Brittany had been broken up for a while and Blaine always thought Brittany was good for Santana. Gave her balance.

 

_**Blaine Anderson  
** Aren't you guys getting a bit off topic?_

_**Brittany S Pierce  
** who are you?_

_**Blaine Anderson  
** What do you mean, who am I? My name is literally on the screen. _  
_It's Blaine._

_**Brittany S Pierce  
** why are you using a fake last name?_

_**Blaine Anderson  
** …_  
_You still think my last name is Warbler, don't you?_

 _ **Brittany S Pierce  
** of course it is! I've known you for years Blaine Warbler, I know your surname_  
_am I being punked?_

 _ **Santana Lopez  
** You're adorable, Britt._  
_So, Saturday? Who's in?_

_**Brittany S Pierce  
** i'll need to explain to lord tubbington why he can't come :( he might be sad_

_**Santana Lopez  
** It's ok, I'll come _  
_to your house before we go out. We'll give him treats and attention and make him feel better before we leave. Sound good?_

_**Brittany S Pierce  
** yay!_

_**Blaine Anderson  
** Is Kurt coming?_

_**Santana Lopez  
** He said he might show_  
_Wait_  
_You spoke to him?_

_**Blaine Anderson  
** Is that such a surprise?_

Santana took a little while to reply, and by the time she re-joined the conversation, the screen had been filled with messages from other ex members of the New Directions, confirming their attendance. Mike, sadly, couldn't make it due to the fact that he was in Europe at some fancy Dance and Arts school, but mostly everyone else said they would come along.

It only occurred to Blaine later on that night as he was tucking himself into bed that Santana never really did answer his question about Kurt. Had Kurt been secretive about his plans to meet up with him? Why would that be?

It wasn't like they had anything to hide.

Did they?

 

_**Day Six (Friday):** _

Friday came without a single word from Sebastian, and Blaine was beginning to get extremely anxious about what this meant. Sebastian wouldn't just cut him out, right? He'd done so many shitty things, but that had been in high school.

Things were different now. They were friends.

 _Not just friends_ the traitorous voice inside his head that sounded suspiciously like Cooper chimed in. He shook his head and blocked the thought as soon as it came to him. It wouldn't do to think of Sebastian like that. He already made a fool of himself once.

Something was nagging him about that day, though. It had been since he'd left the hospital. Sebastian hadn't reacted to the kiss at all like Blaine would suspect him to. In fact, he had seemed hurt. Why?

He didn't really have time to think too deeply about it. He was already running a little late for lunch with Kurt. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, pondering the casualness of his outfit.

What will Kurt think of him now? He hadn't seen him in seven months, and Blaine had changed so much, and he hadn't really noticed it himself until now.

He'd stopped gelling his hair entirely, for one, which he had been told so many times suited him way better. His dress sense had gotten a little more casual, too. For example, today he was wearing a plain white t-shirt with a plain black long sleeved shirt, the sleeves rolled up just past his elbows. Skinny jeans and converse were also part of his outfit. He wondered if Kurt would be freaked out by this and briefly considered changing into a shirt and bow tie before shaking his head, deciding that he didn't really want to keep his ex boyfriend waiting on him for too long.

By the time he got to the restaurant, it was almost quarter past two, and Blaine felt guilty as hell despite the fact that he'd already sent a few texts apologising on his way there, and Kurt had assured him that it was fine. He was vaguely aware of the fact that he was only fifteen minutes late and it wasn't really a big deal, but his stomach was in knots and he was internally panicking about everything right now. What if Kurt was pissed? What if Blaine fucked up? Fuck, what if he'd left already?

He was there though, in the waiting area, smiling and waving Blaine over. Blaine's chest tightened as he walked towards him with trepidation, not entirely sure how to approach him. He needn't have worried, though. Kurt pulled him into a full blown hug. Blaine's brain was fried – it took him a few seconds to force himself out of his funk to return the hug before Kurt drew back. “You look great, Blaine.”

“Uh, t-thanks,” Blaine stammered, internally pleading with his brain to start working again. “You do too,” he managed to force out, much clearer.

It was true. Kurt looked fantastic. He was donned in a three piece dark blue suit that Blaine suspected was a designer label, and the thin bright blue tie he wore with it complimented the entire outfit. Kurt's hair was combed and gelled back in a stylish manner.

“Yes! Let's get seated!” Kurt giggled at Blaine's obviously flustered state, hooking their arms together and leading them to one of the booths near the back of the room.

Lunch went pretty well. They made some small talk, Blaine talked about his job and his boss, and Kurt talked about life in New York – he mentioned that he had auditioned on Broadway for Fiyero in Wicked, and Blaine beamed at him with pride.

“Are you serious, Kurt?! That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!”

Kurt grinned at him, twisting his spaghetti around his fork but not really consuming his food as his attention remained solely on Blaine. Blaine couldn't recall the last time Kurt had paid so much attention to him, actually. “I mean, I'm not expecting to get the part, but I'm just so happy to have gotten so far in the process!”

Blaine sipped from his glass of water, glancing at his phone to check if Sebastian had gotten back to him yet.

Nope, still nothing.

What the hell was going on? He contemplated firing out yet another text to the taller boy, asking him to make some contact with him and telling him yet again that he was worried, but he figured that would be rude. Still, he had to do something. His father was clearly dangerous, and the longer Sebastian was alone with him, the more likely he'll be hurting. _God, Bas, please don't be hurting_ , Blaine pleaded.

“Hello, earth to Blaine?” Kurt waved his hand in front of Blaine's face, and Blaine's eyes snapped to the other boy.

“Uh, shit. I- I'm sorry, Kurt, I-”

“Listen, Blaine. Are you listening?” Kurt met his eyes, watching him carefully.

“Uh, yes?”

“I... there's a reason I asked you to come meet me.” Blaine vaguely felt Kurt's hand meet his in the middle of the table, and he blinked as Kurt curled his fingers into his. “I miss you,” he smiled sadly. Blaine didn't really get the chance to reply before Kurt took a deep breath, “I miss you, and I think I made a mistake, and I messed up, and I know I don't deserve you and god you must hate me right now, and I don't even know what's happening in your life right now but I- I love you, Blaine. I love you, and I want you back.”

Blaine's eyes widened in a manner that would be comical if it weren't for the seriousness of the situation. “I- I don't really know what to say, Kurt.” Actually, that was a lie, he knew exactly what he had to say. “Don't you have a boyfriend?”

Kurt frowned at him, brow furrowed. “How did you hear about Derek?”

“Oh, he has a name,” Blaine huffed a quiet laughter, even though he wasn't really amused. “Derek, huh?”

“Look, we broke up. I'm sorry, I should have told you. Or. I shouldn't have been with him in the first place. We belong together, Blaine. I see that now.” Kurt's grip tightened on his hand as though he was trying to hold him in place. “Can I- please, can I kiss you now?”

 _No._ “Uh...” _Say no_ , his mind screamed at him. But Kurt was moving towards him now over the small table, cupping Blaine's face in his hands and tilting him upwards, waiting expectantly, and to his own surprise, the word that came out was “sure”.

Kurt closed his eyes and moved forward a little so that their lips met in a soft caress, moving together slowly and timidly before he was drawing back again, looking perplexed.

Blaine felt nauseous. What the fuck had he just done? He can't do this. _You're in love with Sebastian, you idiot_ , Blaine's brain supplied bitterly. _Shit. Oh, shit. Fuck._

But Kurt was watching him closely, biting his bottom lip in contemplation. “Oh,” he said.

“Oh?” Blaine asked, dumbfounded. He didn't really know what else to say. He had no idea what to do. His head was still swimming from his realisation.

He really had to find Sebastian.

He already knew Sebastian had feelings for him. He pretty much said as much in the hospital when Blaine tried to kiss him. He had convinced both of them that kissing Sebastian had been due to Kurt's Facebook update, but part of him just really wanted to know what Sebastian tasted like.

_Kurt. Oh, fuck. Shit. Kurt._

“I- Blaine, I'm so sorry, I thought that we still had a chance, but... that didn't feel... right? I- I don't think we-”

“I'm in love with Sebastian,” Blaine blurted out loud, because his stupid brain was still fixated on that fact and he clearly had no tact. “I mean, ah. Shit. I didn't mean-” His heart was pounding, and he could feel the adrenaline shooting through his body.

Kurt gaped at him, evidently taken aback. He didn't look hurt, just pissed as hell.

“I- I'm in love with Sebastian. I'm sorry, Kurt. I didn't mean for that to come out. I just... I just realised, myself, and I- we can't get back together, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please say something,” Blaine whispered softly, his voice catching the back of his throat.

“Sebastian? _Smythe_?” Kurt stood up from his chair, scowling at Blaine. “Sebastian who landed you in hospital in high school? The bully that blackmailed us? The guy that nearly made a guy commit suicide? That Sebastian? Blaine, please, tell me it's not Sebastian Smythe. Please tell me it's another Sebastian.”

“He.... it wasn't just his words that got to Karofsky, Kurt. You can't put the entire blame on him for that.”

Kurt looked as though he was about to dive across the table and choke Blaine, public spaces be damned.

“But- you're right. Yes. Sebastian fucked up, Kurt. He did some really shitty things, and he knows it. If you just took the time to get to know him-”

“I already know him!” Kurt shrieked, throwing his napkin on the table. “Look, Blaine. This was a mistake. I can see that now. I think it would be best if I just-”

Kurt didn't even finish his sentence, just pulled out some cash for his part of the meal and threw it down on the table furiously, before turning and storming out.

Blaine stared blankly at the pile of cash, willing himself to move, or maybe go after Kurt, or maybe try to find Sebastian. He really had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. He settled with paying for his half of the bill, before making his way home by himself, mind swimming with the events of the night and his sudden badly-timed epiphany.

 


	8. Juke Box Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Santana's night out - and a surprise guest arrives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it's been a month, and I'm so sorry. For those of you who aren't following me on tumblr (killergaycyclops for those who want to follow), I've been on holiday and am currently dealing with exams (actually, I should be studying right now, but I really really wanted to get the next chapter out to you guys). I had originally said I'd update next week, but hey - looks like I found the time! The next chapter will be a flashback in Seb's POV. (Yes, it does explain what Rachel is talking about in this chapter, but rather than including it here in Rachel's POV I felt as though it would work best from Seb's). Our boys will be reunited soon, I promise! Just another couple of chapters. Next update will be ASAP! The next few chapters have been properly outlined so shan't take long to actually type out. As always, thanks for kudos and reviews. They inspire me, and I love hearing from you guys. So, y'know... keep at it! :D

The next night, Blaine, Tina, Sam, Santana, Brittany, Marley, Jake and Puck met at a bar in the city that Blaine hadn't heard of before - “The Muse”. Blaine was rested in an armchair, watching his friends interact with one another. There was definitely something missing, and he felt a small sting thinking about the fact that Finn couldn't be there with them – he definitely wouldn't have missed this night. Blaine kept the thought to himself, though, not wanting to bring the mood down.

Sam's arm was draped around Tina, and Blaine raised an eyebrow at her flirtatious giggle. That was an interesting new development. He'd definitely have to keep an eye on them for sure. Not that it stopped Sam's face from falling a second later as he spotted Santana and Brittany looking rather cosy together, seated in a booth and appearing to be in an entire world of their own, their legs hooked together under the table. Blaine always admired them – despite their break up, he knew that it had only been a matter of time before they worked things out, and it looked as though things were on the right track.

He was broken out of his reverie when he heard an excited shreik come from Tina – a noise that he'd never heard escape her mouth before. When he looked towards the source, though, his jaw fell open.

“Rachel!” Brittany jumped, unfurling herself from Santana as she made her way over to the bar to greet her friend. Santana only looked slightly put out, but she appeared to get herself together enough to make her way over to say hi.

“Glad you could make it, Berry!” Santana drew the other girl into a friendly hug, and Blaine watched quietly as more greetings were exchanged between the group. He frowned. He wasn't quite sure where he stood with Rachel. On the one hand, they had been pretty good friends at one point. On the other hand, he was 99.9% sure that Kurt would have told her about their awkward lunch from the day before.

He spent a few minutes debating with himself over whether or not he should say hello to her, but the decision was taken out of his hands as they made eye contact, and Rachel's face softened as she smiled at him. Her acknowledgement relieved tension in Blaine's chest that he didn't even know was there. Rachel whispered something to Santana before moving away from them to take the seat opposite from Blaine.

“So you're not mad at me?” Blaine asked as soon as she'd taken her seat. There was no point in pretending – they both knew that the first person Kurt shared everything with was his best friend.

“Should I be?” Rachel sighed, crossing her palms on the table in front of them. “I mean, you and Kurt have been over for a long time. Am I a little shocked to hear about your...” Rachel lowered her voice to a whisper, “your feelings?” She cleared her throat, continuing. “Sure. But it's not for me to judge – you're an adult, Blaine. You make your own decisions.”

“Huh.” Blaine replied flatly, watching his friend closely.

“What?” Rachel frowned, her brows creasing her forehead.

“There's something you're not telling me.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about, Blaine Anderson.” She smirked then, leaning closer to Blaine in a conspiratorial manner.

“What gives, Maria?” He grinned back.

Rachel laughed softly at the old nickname. “Alright, Tony, I'll give it up.” Then her face hardened into a serious expression. “There's something I need to tell you. It's-”

“Alright, losers. Karaoke is now open.” Santana's voice boomed from the stage, distracting Blaine and Rachel from their conversation as they glanced at their friend, who was holding onto a mic. “I'd like to welcome onto the stage, McKinley High's New Directions!” Blaine noticed her face was slightly tinged with pink.

“Uh, how much as Santana had to drink?”

Rachel just grinned at him. “Come on. We can talk later.”

Blaine stood, holding out his arm for Rachel to take. “Coming, Maria?”

Looping her arm around Blaine's, she patted his shoulder with her other hand. “Always, Tony.”

~

After the entire group finished singing Queen's “Don't Stop Me Now”, Blaine left the stage, taking a seat beside Sam at the bar, who was watching the two remaining girls on stage – Brittany and Santana. Setting his hand on his best friend's shoulder in an empathetic gesture, Blaine ordered himself a rum and coke. Technically he wasn't twenty one for another two months, but no one else was getting carded, and it wasn't like he hadn't indulged before.

As the turned towards the stage, drink in hand, he watched Brittany and Santana as they sang Fleetwood Mac's “Everywhere”, seeimingly too wrapped up in each other to notice that they had an audience.

“ _Can you hear me calling out your name? You know that I'm falling and I don't know what to say,”_ Santana sang, moving her hand to Brittany's and grasping it, gently rubbing her thumb in circles around her palm. 

“ _Come along baby, we better make a start, you better make it soon before you break my heart,”_ Brittany's voice followed, swaying closely to Santana as they smiled softly at one another. 

“ _Oh I, I wanna be with you everywhere..”_ their voices combined beautifully. It really made Blaine long for Sebastian. It had been over a week, and Blaine was really beginning to worry about the ex-Warbler. He had a plan, though. But he needed some help, and he needed the support of his best bro. 

Plus, maybe it would help Sam take his mind off Brittany. 

As though picking up from Blaine's train of thought, he heard his friend speak dejectedly beside him. “You know, I never really noticed how perfect they were together. Brittany never looked at me the way she looks at her.” 

Blaine grimaced. It wasn't like he could deny that fact – for Brittany, it had always been Santana. He once thought that it would be the same for himself and Kurt, but yesterday had just proven otherwise. If he was being totally honest with himself, though, he liked Sebastian from day one. Yes, it was wrong, Yes, he was with Kurt at the time. Yes, he was an asshole. But there was that spark. That spark that hadn't dwindled since – the unspoken connection that lay between them every time they were near one another. At the time, though, he  _did_ love Kurt, and it's not like Sebastian was the relationship type of guy. He had hardly been subtle with his interest in Blaine, but it had been purely sexual. Blaine couldn't do that – not with Sebastian. 

Although, what Sebastian had said at the hospital... He never wanted to be Blaine's rebound. Blaine wasn't just some random to him. Was it a rejection, or...? 

_No_ , Blaine scolded himself internally. Of course it was a rejection. Sebastian just didn't want to ruin the friendship, and Blaine didn't want to make things awkward. He might have accepted his feelings for Sebastian, but he wasn't going to put that on his friend – not when he was dealing with so much else at the same time. He resolved to concentrate on his plan to get him away from his father instead. 

Sam cleared his throat, nudging Blaine. “You in there, man?” 

“Ugh, fuck, sorry Sam.”

“Lost in thought, huh? Why do I get the feeling that this is about Sebastian?” 

A lot of people gave Sam little credit, claiming that he was dumb. Blaine disagreed – his best friend was incredibly perceptive. 

Blaine gave a slight nod, sighing heavily. “I just- it's been over a week, Sam, and I haven't heard from him, and- and there are things that I haven't told you, or, well... suspicions, I guess, but I- I just-” He could feel himself visibly shaking, but he could do little to calm himself down. 

Sam rubbed his back gently. “Hey, man, you want to get out of here? Doesn't seem like you're really in a fit state for a party.”

He knew that he probably should leave – he had been distracted all night, after all. What was he even doing out when he should be working on getting Sebastian to safety? Although, it's not like he could do that at ass o'clock in the morning. Plus, his plan would require a few days preparation.

“I, uhm. Yeah. I just need to talk to Rachel real quick.” 

Rachel had been standing in a corner, talking to Tina quietly. It looked like quite a serious conversation, and Rachel's head was bowed as Tina touched her hand in an empathetic manner, smiling gently (although the smile did look forced). He figured the topic of conversation was probably Finn-related, and didn't really want to interrupt, but as soon as he moved to walk back to Sam, Rachel's eyes met his and she turned to Tina, whispering something to which the other girl nodded, and walking towards Blaine as Tina made her way over to Sam at the bar.

“Hey Tony,” Rachel smirked, mirth and twinkle gone from her eyes. 

“Hey, Maria” Blaine replied softly. “I, uh- I'm sorry for interrupting, I just- I have to leave, I don't-”

“Blaine, you're shaking,” Rachel said, concerned. “Here, sit down.” As soon as Rachel had drawn out a seat, Blaine collapsed into it, covering his face with his hands as he fought the tears. _No, not now – not in front of Rachel_. Rachel had dealt with much, much worse – he couldn't put his shit on her. 

“Blaine, I need you to listen to me, okay?” Rachel asked, gently removing his hands from his face so that she could look him in the eyes. “I need you to breathe slowly, can you do that?”

Blaine nodded, inhaling deeply through his nose, before exhaling slowly through his mouth. 

“Good, good. Keep doing that. I'm just going to get you some water. Just- just keep breathing. I'll be back in a few minutes.” 

Blaine was so busy concentrating on his breathing, that he hardly noticed the time pass, and before he knew it, Rachel was beside him again, plastic cup of water in hand. Handing the cup off to Blaine, she crouched down in front of him to meet his eye level again. 

A few gulps later, the shaking subsided somewhat – although it was definitely still present. 

“Is this about Sebastian?” Rachel asked, though it seemed as though she already knew the answer.

Blaine grimaced, setting his cup onto the table beside him. “Am I really that obvious?” 

“No, not really.” She smiled softly, running her hand through Blaine's hair in a gentle, soothing manner. “Just an educated guess. Do you want to talk about it?”

Blaine shook his head, frowning. “It's not really my story to tell, Rach.”

He expected her to push, but to Blaine's surprise, Rachel just nodded with acceptance. 

“Okay. I get it. I'm here, though. If you need to talk about you and Sebastian.” 

Blaine snorted. “There's not really a 'me and Sebastian' to talk about, Rachel. You've met Sebastian – he's hardly the relationship type. Just because I have... feelings, doesn't mean that we're going to hold hands and run into the sunset together.” 

He expected a look of sympathy, but instead Rachel burst into laughter. 

“Uhm, what-”

“Oh my god, Blaine. You are so clueless.”

“What?” 

She turned away from Blaine as she struggled to calm herself. Once she succeeded, though, she turned back to Blaine, a serious expression set on her face. “Okay, we need to talk. But you can't tell Sebastian I told you about this. I was... sworn to secrecy. But I think you need to know.” 

 

 


	9. Love Is All You Need

**Two Years Ago (Flashback to Love, Love, Love)**

God damn Blaine Anderson. Damn Kurt fucking Hummel. Damn them both to the fiery pits of hell.

Sebastian had been perfectly happy screwing up his life on his own – he really didn't need anyone else coming on board and doing it for him. But Sebastian just had to go ahead and get caught up in _feelings_ , didn't he?

Ugh, _feelings_. Even the thought of the word made Sebastian want to throw up in his mouth. He wanted nothing more than for them to be gone, for them to have never been there in the first place – just anything. Anything that would make him stop feeling the way he did right now.

It was Blaine's fault, really. He had looked at Sebastian with those big pleading eyes, begging him to help him out. And, well. Who was Sebastian to refuse Blaine happiness? If he couldn't give it to him, he would damn well make sure someone else could, even if it tore Sebastian apart inside to do it. He had spent far too much time that day faking a smile already, and he really didn't care to test how long he could hold it up. He wasn't entirely certain he had been all that convincing in the first place, if Sebastian was been completely honest with himself.

After the proposal, everyone had left to celebrate. Sebastian really didn't care to find out where – he just wanted to be alone.

Dalton's choir room was silent and still, no noise apart from the shuffling of Sebastian's seat as he made his way over to the stool beside the polished white grand piano. He stared blankly, blinking back the tears that were attempting to break through.

The memory echoed like a blow to the gut.

_"...for those that know me, I'm not in the habit of taking people's hands I've never met before"_

Blaine had taken Sebastian's hand. Hadn't that meant anything? Had he just imagined the connection in his own mind?

Not that he could blame anyone but himself. Maybe if he'd been a better person. Maybe if he'd met Blaine at a better time in his life. Maybe if he didn't push the one person he could care deeply for away so hard. Maybe if, maybe if...

Sebastian Smythe didn't cry. He didn't cry when he was in physical pain, and he most certainly didn't cry over a broken heart.

His eyes were merely... leaking.

He choked back a sob, then scrunched his eyes tight, willing himself to calm.

His fingers stroked they keys of the piano, and almost mechanically, he began to play a tune.

“ _Oh life, it's bigger_

_It's bigger than you_

_And you are not me_

_The lengths that I will go to_

_The distance in your eyes_

_Oh no, I've said too much_

_I've said enough”_

~

Rachel smiled softly as she watched her two friends so wrapped in their own world, clinging to each other, sobbing with sheer joy rippling through them. She wiped a tear away from her own eye, before wrapping her best friend in a tight hug, grinning widely.

“It's about damn time,” Rachel prodded Kurt's side playfully, giggling at the sight of him flinching.

“We're going to go celebrate, you coming?” Kurt grinned after recomposing himself. _Dapper as ever_ , Rachel thought.

“Yeah, I- just, give me five minutes?”

The truth of it was, she had noticed Sebastian slip away quietly as the proposal drew to a close. Rachel was nothing if not merciful, but she still knew Sebastian Smythe wasn't to be trusted, and if Sebastian was planning anything to ruin Kurt and Blaine's big day, well, he'd have to go through Rachel Berry. And Rachel Berry was a force to be reckoned with. Especially in matters of friendship.

It took a while for Rachel to find him – Dalton Academy was massive, after all. Just as she was about to give it up for a lost cause and head back to the group, however, the sound of a piano caught her ear, followed by a voice that she knew all too well. This voice, though, was shrouded in something that she couldn't quite place her finger on. It was almost... raw. Heartbreaking.

“ _That's me in the corner_

_That's me in the spotlight_

_Losing my religion_

_Trying to keep up with you_

_And I don't know if I can do it_

_Oh no, I've said too much_

_I haven't said enough”_

She drew closer to the choir room, leaning against the tall wooden double door frame as she watched in astonishment as Sebastian Smythe poured his heart out through song.

~

Sebastian could feel the wetness in his eyes now, and the rawness in his throat. He couldn't bring himself to care, though. Not when everything felt so heavy on him. He could think of no other release, so he resolved to finish the damn song until the end.

“ _I thought that I heard you laughing_

_I thought that I heard you sing_

_I think I thought I saw you try”_

Sebastian never deserved Blaine, anyway. There was a reason that he was never honest about how he felt. He simply wasn't good enough for him.

He wasn't good enough for anyone. His father had made sure he would never forget that.

Sure, he had turned over a new leaf. Resolved to be a 'better person' or whatever. He was still ugly on the inside, and he knew it. He could feel the anger festering beneath him, a bubbling in his gut that would eventually boil over. He could never have Blaine the way he wanted him. He could never have anyone like that. Why couldn't he just accept that? Why couldn't he just be happy for him?

Sebastian hated _feelings_.

“ _Every whisper_

_Of every waking hour_

_I'm choosing my confessions_

_Trying to keep an eye on you_

_Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool, fool_

_Oh no, I've said too much_

_I've said enough”_

His throat hurt. His chest hurt. His damn heart hurt. Everything hurt.

He never had Blaine to begin with, so why did it feel like he'd just lost him?

“ _Consider this_

_Consider this, the hint of the century_

_Consider this, the slip_

_That brought me to my knees, failed_

_What if all these fantasies come_

_Flailing around_

_Now I've said too much_

_I thought that I heard you laughing_

_I thought that I heard you sing_

_I think I thought I saw you try_

_But that was just a dream_

_That was just a dream”_

He fought through the blur of tears that were overtaking his vision now, squeezing his eyes tight and attempting to blink them away. Why was he so fucking weak?

“ _That's me in the corner_

_That's me in the spotlight_

_Losing my religion_

_Trying to keep up with you_

_And I don't know if I can do it_

_Oh no, I've said too much_

_I haven't said enough_

_I thought that I heard you laughing_

_I thought that I heard you sing_

_I think I thought I saw you try”_

He ended the song there, stroking out a few notes before closing the lid, turning away from the piano and burying his face in his hands. He could feel himself shaking, but damned if he could control it.

“You really had it bad, huh?”

The voice snapped Sebastian out of his thoughts, his whole body jolting with surprise as he met the eyes of...

Damn it.

Rachel Berry stood in front of him, leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed and her face drawn in... ugh, sympathy.

“Go away, Berry.” Sebastian snapped, turning away from her.

He stared at the wooden panels, waiting for the sound of shuffling feet, the clack of heels retreating, but nothing happened. He sighed as he turned to meet her again. “I mean it. Just fuck off.”

He hated the way his voice seemed to waver a little as he spoke.

“Sebastian, I-”

“No, please. Rachel. Please just leave.”

Sebastian didn't say please. He wasn't that type of guy. But he really didn't want to be around anyone right now. Least of all Rachel Berry.

Rachel drew herself up from the doorframe, turning to leave. She hesitated mid-step though, and turned back to meet Sebastian's eyes again.

“Sebastian. I'm.. I'm sorry. I know we're not friends, and I know we have our problems, but for what it's worth? Just... I'm sorry.”

Sebastian clasped his palms together, resting his arms on his thighs and looking intently at the floor now. “Just- just don't tell anyone. Least of all Blaine. Please.”

“I- I won't.”

That was the last thing she said. Sebastian listened to the retreating sound of heels on wooden flooring as Rachel made her way back to join her friends, leaving Sebastian alone with his thoughts once more.

There was a pounding in his head. The pounding of blood rushing furiously through his entire being, boiling to a surface.

“AAARGH”, Sebastian let out a loud growl, rising to his feet and kicking the piano stool into the wall furiously, listening to the satisfying sound of snapping wood as the stool clattered to the floor.

He wanted to destroy something. He wanted to destroy everything. He wanted to break everything into pieces, just as these feelings had broken Sebastian.

He screamed again, a hollow sound drawn from his throat as he tore the books from the indented bookshelf, scattering them across the floor, pages flying, some covers banging against the nearby wall. He kicked one of the coffee tables, sending a newspaper and an abandoned chess board soaring to the ground, pieces scattering across the floor. He found himself bitterly hoping that someone had been in the middle of a game, and he'd ruined it for them. He kicked at the couch, not really causing any damage, but fuck if it didn't feel good to release his rage a little before throwing a hard punch to the wooden panels, his hand throbbing as he dented the woodwork

He leaned against the wall, concentrating on breathing deeply.

_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale._

It wasn't helping. He was shaking like a fucking leaf. He was fucking pathetic.

Sebastian never wanted these feelings. Fuck Blaine Anderson. Fuck them all.

Leaning his back against the wall, Sebastian sunk to the floor, curling up into himself and rocking back and forth, working himself through the pain.

Blaine loved Kurt.

Blaine would never love Sebastian.

No one would ever love Sebastian. He deserved to be alone.

 


	10. We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian tries to escape. It doesn't go as well as he'd hoped. Luckily, he has a guardian angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for abuse in this chapter.

He finally snapped on the ninth day.

Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't handle the glaring silence anymore. Maybe it was that he was growing tireless, feral, seething silently in his rage as he had been held captive in his own bedroom. Maybe – just maybe – it was that Blaine had slowly reawakened some stupid delusion of self worth within him, a tiny voice that whispered that maybe he didn't deserve this, no matter what crap he'd pulled in the past.

Maybe he was just delirious.

Regardless, he'd snapped.

Edgar came to collect him for his evening meal as per usual, and Sebastian followed silently, emerging slowly down the steps towards the dining room, when it occurred to him. Nothing was stopping him. Edgar was an old man – barely capable of catching a snail never mind a grown adult.

He could run. He could run away, hole up... somewhere. He didn't really know where. He just knew he had to get out of here. He had no idea how long his father had been planning on keeping him holed up in his room, but he was starting to suspect that he was never planning on letting him leave – and that chilled Sebastian to the bone.

It happened suddenly, and without much forethought. Sebastian ran for the entrance to the house, bypassing the dining hall completely. As Edgar whirled in shock, Sebastian was clawing at the bolts and locks on the door, willing them to open for him.

Then squealed in agony as he felt a sudden blow to the head, and everything went black.

-

The first thing Sebastian felt as he made his way back into consciousness was a blinding pain – not only in his head, but all over. His ribs ached, his eyes stung and he could feel a sensation on his wrists, something tight tugging at him as he tried to move them.

His eyes snapped open as he realised exactly what it was. Rope.

He struggled, but it was no good. His wrists were tied behind his back, and his abdomen and legs were secured tightly on what felt like one of the wooden chairs that usually occupied the dining table.

“Surely you didn't think we'd be letting you go that easy, Sebastian, did you?”

He froze, his vision coming more into focus on the man in front of him, perched on his bed, the corners of his lips tugging into a malicious smirk.

“Dad.”

“You know, Sebastian, I've really tried my best with you.” His father rose to his feet, crossing over to where Sebastian was sat. He sighed with disappointment, shaking his head at his son. “I mean, every time I think that this is it – you've officially reached the bottom of the barrel, you manage to surprise me by finding an entirely new low.”

Sebastian watched the other man carefully. He had no idea how long he'd been out for, but apparently it had been enough time for him to have been dragged back to his bedroom, and supposedly beaten again. He could feel the tenderness on his face and around his entire body. His father had beaten him while he was out cold. Fighting the bile that rose in his throat at that thought, he continued to listen.

“You're just lucky I got home this morning, boy. You don't even realise how good you have it here, do you?” He sneered, positively growling at Sebastian. “You've always been an ungrateful little shit. No matter what I do, you manage to fuck everything up. Your mother would be so ashamed of you, Sebastian.”

He snarled at the mention of his mother, struggling again in his bindings, but it was no good. He was tied far too tight, and his body felt far too weak to even fight anymore.

“Here's what's going to happen,” his father continued. “You're going to stay on that chair for the rest of the night. No food. You don't deserve it. I've been far too kind to you, boy.” His father's face was closer to his now, peering right into his eyes.

Sebastian turned away. “Yeah, you're a real father of the year,” he spat out.

“What was that?”

His father's icy tone pierced his insides, a chill running down his spine. Why had Sebastian had to go ahead and make it worse?

The slap landed on his cheekbone hard and instant, sending Sebastian's nerves into overdrive as the skin tingled harshly with the aftermath.

“Apologise.” His father's tone left no room for negotiation, but Sebastian just scowled in reply.

As he rose his hand again, though, Sebastian's eyes widened, and he relented.

“Wait, wait!” Sebastian whimpered, his heart beating frantically. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't-”

_Smack._

Sebastian's eyes stung as his father struck the same spot again, his flesh burning severely. Sebastian clenched his fists behind his back, gritting his teeth.

“You were too late, boy. You just-”

Whatever his father was going to say, though, was interrupted by a sharp knock at his bedroom door. His father rose to his feet, opening the door to Edgar.

“Someone is at the door, sir. They're asking for you.”

Pinching his eyebrows, his father turned to glare at Sebastian. “I'll be back later to finish this little... chat.” He turned back to Edgar, “Make sure he stays quiet, then you can serve me dinner. The boy isn't to get any, you hear me?”

Edgar nodded as Mr Smythe retreated from the room, the door closing behind him with a resounding thump.

Sebastian flinched as Edgar moved closer to him, drawing out what seemed to be a piece of cloth from his pocket.

“This is for your own good, boy. Now open up.”

Stupidly, he opened his mouth to protest, allowing Edgar to gag him with the cloth, closing it in a tight knot behind his head. The servant ignored Sebastian's scowls as he let himself out from the room, leaving Sebastian alone, stewing in his own rage.

-

“Dude, you really weren't kidding, were you? This house is huge.”

“Focus, Sam” Blaine hissed, growling at his best friend. “We don't have long to act. As soon as Cooper gives the signal, we move fast, are we clear?”

He glanced over at his brother nervously. Cooper was standing on the porch of Sebastian's house, freshly baked pie in hand.

Sam nodded. “I just don't understand why we don't just barge right in. You know this is a stupid plan, right?”

Blaine ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I know, Sam. I know it is. But we can't just- it's been  _nine_ days, Sam. Nine days and nothing.” 

“Okay, I'm with you, man. I'm just going to ask you this one more time before we commit a felony – are you absolutely sure something is wrong? He didn't lose his phone, or-”

“We've been over this, Sam.” Blaine snapped.

It wasn't that Blaine wasn't grateful for Sam's assistance, however reluctant he had been to follow along with the plan, but Sam simply didn't understand what the big deal was. While Blaine knew that Sebastian wouldn't just cut him out of his life, Sam still had a hard time trusting Sebastian.

Blaine's understanding was starting to wear thin. Sure, Sebastian had acted like an asshole. Blaine knew that more than anyone, having received the brunt of it. But if Blaine could forgive and forget, why couldn't anyone else?

He watched as his brother pressed on the doorbell, his face set in a stoic expression as a small scowling man answered the door. He couldn't exactly hear what was being said, but the other man disappeared behind the door, supposedly to fetch Sebastian's father.

A few minutes passed before another figure appeared at the door, and Blaine clenched his fists, trying to placate himself. This was the man responsible. The man that had broken Sebastian, damaged his self worth and beaten him to a pulp. Clenching his jaw, Blaine willed himself to stay in place, focusing on listening into he conversation.

“Ah, good evening my good man!” Cooper exclaimed, pasting on his best award winning smile. “Blake's the name! Just moved into the neighbourhood here, and I just thought I should come and introduce myself to the neighbours!” Cooper held out his hand.

“Smythe.” Sebastian's father replied, taking Cooper's offered hand. “Ah- I didn't know anyone was selling in this area?” He raised his eyebrows suspiciously. “I haven't seen any moving vans.”

Blaine grimaced, but Cooper barely flinched as he continued. “Oh, well, you see, my father – he's a poorly old man, and I'm his only child. I'd hate for him to spend the last years of his life living alone in that big house of his, so my wife and I are moving in to care for him. Most of our possessions are in storage right now.”

“Ah, Mr Green, I assume?”

Cooper's smile widened. “The very same! Anyway, Barbara – that's my wife. She just loves to bake, and she roped me into bringing some pie to share with the neighbours. I hope you like rhubarb!”

All suspicion was gone from Mr Smythe's face now, Blaine was glad to notice. “Yes, thank you Mr Green. Would you like to come in? Edgar was about to serve dinner, and we do have some extra rations if you're hungry.”

“Oh, are you sure?” Cooper asked, feigning worry. “I wouldn't want to impose on you and your family.”

“Nonsense! It's just me. Well, my son is here too, but he'll be holed up in his bedroom.” Mr Smythe chuckled, gesturing for Cooper to follow him through.

“Well, if you insist, Mr Smythe!”

Blaine blinked as the door clunked shut. “I swear, he has some sort of bewitching power over people, it makes me so mad.”

“Worked to your advantage this time though, huh?” Sam grinned. “I take it back – this was a great plan.”

Blaine's phone vibrated against his leg. After drawing it from his pocket, he swiped the screen.

_**COOPER:** All clear. Both Mr Smythe and servant in the kitchen at the back of the house. Door is unlocked.  _

“Right, get to the car, be ready to leave as soon as we arrive, got that?”

Sam nodded. “Be careful. If you need any help, try your best to signal me, or call, or whatever. Just- don't do anything stupid.”

Blaine snorted, punching Sam lightly on the shoulder. “Get going.” 

-

The damn chair was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. Sebastian could feel bruises starting to form all over his body already, and his chest tightened with panic at the thought of being keep in this prison indefinitely.

He should have gotten away when he had the chance. What were the chances that the day he'd picked to rebel would be the day his father chose to be home for a change? Ugh. 

As Sebastian clenched his fists, then unclenched, attempting to get some blood flowing back into his hands, he heard his door click again, making him flinch. 

“Mphhhh, mmppph!” Sebastian's pleading around the gag promptly halted as soon as he saw the figure standing at the doorway like the most beautiful guardian angel he'd ever laid his eyes on. _Blaine?_

“Bas, oh my god!” Blaine grimaced, taking in his appearance, before dashing over to the other boy, working on the knots as quickly as he could. “We don't have long, Coop's downstairs and Sam has a car outside. Can you- can you walk?” Blaine stared at his friend wide-eyed, clearly not having anticipated anything beyond a few bruises. 

Sebastian just glared.

“Oh, right.” Blaine reached behind his head, loosening the gag, before dragging his thumb along Sebastian's cheekbone lightly, surveying him closely. “God, Sebastian. I should have come sooner. I'm so sorry.” Blaine's voice was tight, controlled – but Sebastian could tell that he was doing his best not to let on how upset he was. 

“I'm okay killer. Let's get the fuck out of here, yeah?” Sebastian finally replied, his voice hoarse. Once he was completely untied, Blaine draped an arm around his shoulder, helping Sebastian to his feet, but Sebastian stumbled, groaning as he buckled in pain. 

“Shit. Shhh. You're okay. You're going to be okay. I promise.” Blaine soothed, taking on more of Sebastian's weight. “Come on, let's get you out of here.” 

 

 

 


	11. Shook Me All Night Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine takes care of Sebastian, in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uhm. I'm a little nervous about this chapter, so I really would appreciate the feedback here.  
> If you've been following my tumblr, you probably know why. If you haven't - well, read on and you'll see what I mean. But yeah, please let me know your thoughts.

"Holy shit!"

Sam looked positively torn between disbelief, anger and sympathy upon seeing Sebastian's bruised and battered figure getting hauled into the car by the Anderson brothers, who were trying to be as gentle as possible, yet acting as fast as they could.

How Cooper had managed to get a hold of some Propofol to lace into the pie, Blaine had no idea, and quite frankly – he was a little scared to ask. His brother was a dangerous man when he put his charms to work. Thankfully, though, he never seemed to use them for anything too dangerous – fast acting sleeping drugs aside. Of course, this was justified. Or at least that's what Blaine was telling himself.

"They should be out for another while, but we really shouldn't hang around." Cooper muttered.

Blaine just nodded, crawling into the back seat beside Sebastian, who was hunched over, arms covering his stomach protectively, his jaw clenched.

"Bas..." Blaine whispered, pulling the other boy's head onto his lap, allowing Sebastian to lie across the back seat as Cooper climbed into the front. It wasn't exactly compliant with road safety, but fuck if he was going to force Sebastian to sit up when he was clearly in a lot of pain.

"We need to get him to a hospital. Oh god, Bas- you're bleeding!"

Sebastian's eyes widened, as though he'd only just noticed it himself – but there it was. The harsh contrast of the blood stain on Sebastian's white shirt was pretty severe.

"I- I'm okay, please just- just drive," Sebastian spluttered, tears streaking down his face. "Please. Get me away from here."

Sam answered with a firm nod, the engine roaring to life.

"We need to get you to a hospital" Blaine repeated, his voice quivering as he stroked his fingers through Sebastian's hair gently, internally wondering whether the gesture was to soothe Sebastian or himself.

"N-no! Please, my father, he'll-"

"Shhh, no, Bas. He won't find you." Blaine swiped at the wetness around Sebastian's eyes with his thumbs. "We'll contact the police. They'll keep him away. I promise, I won't let him get to you again."

Sebastian closed his eyes, letting himself be soothed by Blaine's soft touches. Once the tears had been wiped away from his face, Blaine placed his hand back in the ex-Warbler's hair.

Sebastian sighed. "'m okay, B. Please, no hospital."

"Bas," Blaine groaned. "Don't fight me on this. You could be internally wounded. I refuse to let you bleed to death just because you insist on being stubborn."

"Ugh, you're so dramatic, B." The corner of Sebastian's mouth tilted slightly – a feeble attempt at a smirk – an attempted display of bravado.

Blaine smiled softly at the other boy, his heart aching. He couldn't stand seeing Sebastian like this. "We'll have them check you over, Bas. If you're okay, we'll take you home."

Sebastian stilled under Blaine's touch, his fingers digging into Blaine's thigh.

"Ow!" Blaine hissed. "No- Bas, I don't- I meant my apartment."

Sebastian's grip loosened as he sunk back into Blaine's touch, but his hand remained on Blaine's thigh. It felt oddly intimate, and he'd be embarrassed to have two other witnesses to the whole ordeal if it wasn't for the complexity of the situation. As it was, he was just glad to have Sebastian out of there – not quite whole, but they had time -they'd fix this. Fix Sebastian.

-

Sebastian groaned as he lay back on Blaine's bed, feeling the first source of comfort that he had in a while. He was finally  _safe_.

The wait to be seen at the ER had been long, but the actual time spent with the doctor had been short and sweet. She had spent some time going over Sebastian's injuries, had him go in for an x-ray to check the bones were all in place, and seemed satisfied that he wasn't in any danger. She had recommended that he stayed overnight, but reluctantly let him leave with Blaine after witnessing Sebastian's short panic attack at the mere suggestion.

After that, Sam dropped Sebastian and Blaine off at Blaine's apartment, leaving supposedly to drive Cooper home (and, Sebastian figured, to contact the police – he really didn't want to ask, if he was being completely honest with himself.)

And now... he could breathe.

The bed dipped as Blaine sat next to him, pulling Sebastian's head against his thigh to use as a pillow, the air crackling with... something Sebastian wasn't quite ready to put a name to. For now, he just let Blaine draw him in with soft strokes, trailing his fingers lightly through his hair, down to the back of his neck, sending a slight not entirely unpleasant shiver down Sebastian's spine.

-

They didn't talk. Sebastian fell asleep pretty quickly in Blaine's arms, and Blaine reluctantly peeled himself away from the other boy's side, gently pulling the cover over him and running a hand through his hair. He had no idea when petting Sebastian had become such a comfort to him, but it was almost like a second nature to him now.

He padded into the kitchen, flicking on the kettle then leaning against the counter, crossing his arms.

The thing was, he had no idea what was going to happen with himself and Sebastian now. Sure, Rachel had told him that Sebastian had been upset after Kurt's proposal. Blaine had figured that himself, if he was being totally honest with himself. There had been something off about the other boy the instant Blaine had asked for his help, but Blaine had to go ahead and selfishly request that Sebastian help him out anyway. He couldn't help but feel the guilt that came along with that particular memory.

But what did that mean  _now_? The proposal had happened two years ago. Did that mean that Sebastian had moved on? Had Blaine missed his window while he'd been chasing an impossible happiness with Kurt?

It wasn't exactly what was important right now, Blaine decided. Sebastian had to recover. Then maybe.  _Maybe_ they could talk.

-

Sebastian groaned as he rolled over in the bed, curling himself into the foetal position. The nurse had given him painkillers, but they weren't really doing much for the bruising around his ribs. Every time he tried to get himself into a comfortable position, pain would crop up somewhere else in his body, causing him to flinch and attempt to readjust himself for comfort.

After what Sebastian guessed was a few hours, give or take, of zoning in and out of sleep, he eventually gave up. Pulling himself from the bed, Sebastian's legs buckled in protest, and he let out a yelp as he grasped onto the side of the mattress to steady himself.

He was gearing himself up for reaching over to the wall in order to manoeuvre himself from the room, when the door to the bedroom was thrown open, Blaine looking dishevelled and panting, curls angled in all manners of direction.

"Bas? Are you- oh, what are you doing?" He seemed to calm himself after clapping eyes on Sebastian.

Sebastian chuckled softly at the concern shown in his friend's face. "I'm okay, killer. I just couldn't sleep."

"Oh." Blaine blinked, making his way to Sebastian's side, pulling his arm onto his shoulders with practised ease, allowing Sebastian to lean his weight on him. "Why didn't you call on me?"

_Huh._

That was definitely a loaded question. He'd just grown so used to no one helping him out, that he'd figured things would be the same here. But of  _course_ they weren't. He should have known. Blaine was gentle, kind, understanding and caring. Blaine was safe. Blaine was  _home_.

Oh, shit. He'd deal with that later. He couldn't bring himself to get too comfortable here. As domestic as this entire scenario was, he knew not to get his hopes up with Blaine. They were friends. He really didn't want to fuck that up, no matter how badly Sebastian yearned for more.

Internally chastising himself, he allowed Blaine to lead his limping form from the bedroom into the small, cosy living room. This was the first time he'd really taken in the surroundings of Blaine's apartment, but it was beginning to occur to him that it was pretty small for someone who'd attended a private school.

Small – but it was so entirely Blaine. Humble, comfortable. Homely.

The couch Blaine placed him on was soft, much like the mattress. Nothing like the hardened modern furniture in his own home. No – his  _father's_  home. Sebastian would live out on the street before he'd return back there.

Which... might not really be an entirely far-fetched scenario. For all intents and purposes, Sebastian was now homeless, and while he knew that Blaine wouldn't just throw him out on the street, he really didn't want to take advantage of his friend's caring nature. No, he would find an alternative.

Blaine took a seat next to him, at the other end of the couch, and Sebastian felt an irrational pang of disappointment that the other boy wasn't sitting closer. He didn't say anything though, just turned his attention to the television.

Moulin Rouge was playing, and not for the first time, Sebastian thought about Paris – about his sister, his aunt... his life before it all went to shit. He sighed.

"Bas?"

Sebastian's eyes moved to Blaine, who was moving a little closer now, looking apprehensive.

"Yeah, B?"

"Are you- are you okay?"

Fucking hell. The last thing he wanted was to be treated like a damsel in distress.

"I- I'm just... thinking is all."

Blaine slid over to the space right beside Sebastian, palm grazing his thigh and Sebastian felt a warmth spread throughout his chest, his face flushing. If Blaine noticed, though, he said nothing.

"Mind if I ask what about?"

Against his better judgement, he opened up. It wasn't like Blaine hadn't been clued in on his father anyway – he figured he might as well share with the one person he trusted enough.

"Paris." He replied. "I have a sister. Or- had a sister." Sebastian shrugged. "I haven't seen her in years. Not since my mother died."

Blaine listened, attention entirely focused on Sebastian. He told him about his life in Paris, about how he had a happy home once, and about how his mother died in a car wreck on the way to the store – Sebastian the sole survivor. He told Blaine about how his father changed – became a completely different person, grew to resent Sebastian. Tore him away from Claret.

While he was talking, Blaine's hand found his own, clasping onto it gently, Blaine's thumb grazing over his knuckles lightly, calming Sebastian as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Bas." Blaine said as Sebastian recounted how they'd moved to Ohio.

"It's just- I don't know if she's still living there. I don't know if she remembers me. Fuck, B, I just... she's the only family I have left, you know?" Because he certainly didn't count his father as family. Blaine seemed to understand that, nodding in agreement.

The conversation turned a little lighter after that – Sebastian spoke more about his life in Paris – the landscapes, his favourite places, his favourite things to do there – he spoke fondly of the beach that his family visited regularly, and Blaine listened with rapt attention, asking the occasional question.

Before they knew it, it was getting late – the sky outside was pitch black, and Blaine was yawning, so they said their goodnights. After helping Sebastian into Blaine's bed, Blaine returned back into the living room, and Sebastian felt a pang of loneliness as soon as Blaine's warmth left his side.

-

After what felt like hours of tossing and turning (but was probably closer to half an hour), Sebastian came to a decision.

He was going for it. He was going to tell Blaine to come back – maybe to sleep in the bed with him. All he knew was that he needed the warmth of the other boy beside him. He didn't need to talk about his feelings – about how every time he saw Blaine he wanted to kiss him, wanted to feel his lips against him like he did that one time in the hospital. Blaine didn't need to hear that shit. But the comfort of another body beside him – especially if that body belonged to Blaine, well... Sebastian kind of needed that right now.

Unsteadily, he limped out of the bed and across the room, grabbing onto whatever he could find for support.

Sebastian clenched the handle, the door swinging open to reveal Blaine standing in front of him, hand held out as though he'd been about to open the door himself.

"Sebastian, I-" Blaine started.

"I was just-" Sebastian spoke over Blaine, before freezing.

Both boys stood at the doorway, staring one another down. Blaine blinked, a quizzical expression on his face.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, how long they stood frozen on the spot, but it seemed to go on forever. More than likely, Sebastian figured, it couldn't have been more than thirty seconds. But for all intents and purposes, time was at a complete standstill, until it all came crashing down with a swift movement between the two of them.

Sebastian wasn't sure which one of them moved first, all he knew was that Blaine's lips were on his, his hand raked into his hair, Sebastian's hands planted on the other boy's waist. He felt Blaine sigh against his lips – a sound of contentment, as though, like Sebastian, Blaine had been needing this. It was soft and sweet and gentle, and not at all like any kiss Sebastian had had before. Blaine tasted like coffee, smelt like cinnamon, and kissed like he was trying to gently map the inside of Sebastian's mouth with his tongue.

He didn't even realise they were moving until Sebastian felt himself land back onto the mattress, Blaine perched over him, but not putting any weight on him. Later he would never admit to it, but he whined a little as the wet heat of Blaine's mouth left him, only to groan loudly as soon as he began to suckle on Sebastian's pulse point. Sebastian could feel himself trembling, getting rock hard below the waist. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sound of his own breathing, which was quickening with anticipation.

The moment Blaine's hand stroked over his groin through his pants, he was lost. He gasped, gripping onto Blaine's back to steady himself.

"Shhh, Bas. Let me take care of you." Blaine whispered, trailing soft kisses down his neckline. Suddenly, Blaine sat up and straddled Sebastian's lap, bringing his hands to the bottom of his own shirt, peeling it off, before making quick work of Sebastian's. Sebastian's eyes trailed Blaine's now naked chest – perfect, smooth, mark free - not at all like how his was. If Blaine's expression was anything to go by, his father's marks were more than visible. Sebastian winced.

Instead of jolting away in revulsion, however, Blaine trailed his hands over his chest softly, with reverence, before cupping Sebastian's jaw, holding eye contact with him.

"Perfect." Blaine tried to assure him, fixing him with an easy grin.

"Blaine-" Sebastian whined, feeling himself flush with heat from his chest to his cheekbones.

Blaine snorted. "Oh, so now you choose to get shy. I thought I was the bashful schoolboy, Bas?"

"You'll always be a bashful schoolboy, killer. An entirely cheesy one at that."

"Mmm, you like it though." Blaine grinned.

Cutting off any protest that Sebastian didn't really get the chance to form, Blaine's palm found it's way to his crotch again, and Sebastian's breath juttered, a flare of heat spreading through him.

"Let's get these off, hm? They're kind of in the way for what I want to do to you."

Blaine's mouth found his again as they began to peel at the rest of their clothing. Shirts, pants and socks all lay scattered on Blaine's bedroom floor now, as Sebastian and Blaine lay on the bed in their respective underwear, tongues tangling with one another– Sebastian propped up on his elbows, Blaine's legs propped at either side of Sebastian, carefully avoiding putting any weight on him at all. Sebastian hated it – wanted to pull Blaine into him, to feel him all over, to show him that he was not made of glass. But he could sense Blaine's trepidation, and really didn't want to burden him with the prospect of hurting Sebastian – not when he appeared to be taking every precaution necessary to avoid causing him any pain.

When Blaine's hands made their way to the hipline of Sebastian's underwear, Blaine's eyes sought his, as though asking for permission.

"Jesus killer, are you fucking serious? Do you know how long I've spent trying to get this to happen?"

Shit, did he really just say that? He really couldn't help but fuck everything up, could he? Blaine just chuckled, though, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "Careful what you wish for, Bas."

Then the little shit just winked at him as he took off Sebastian's underwear, Sebastian canting his hips off the bed in assistance, before lying flat on his back. "Kinky. Didn't know you had it in you, B."

Blaine was trailing kisses down Sebastian's chest now, lightly tracing the bruises. Sebastian couldn't help but be completely exposed, in more ways than one. It wasn't the nakedness – that didn't phase him, no. It was the raw emotion emitting from both himself and Blaine, connecting them at the seams.

Sebastian let out a loud groan as Blaine mouthed at his hipbone, sliding his tongue against the skin.

"Mmm, your hipbones drive me wild, you know that?"

"They do, huh?" Sebastian asked, propping himself up again to gaze down at Blaine, who was sucking a light mark into his left hipbone – not enough to bruise, but certainly enough to send the feeling straight to his dick, which twitched with interest.

"Remember that time you sent me a picture message of you in my clothes? I couldn't take my eyes off of this." Giving his hipbone one final kiss, he began to descend lower, mouth nipping along his thigh, drawing out short gasps in Sebastian.

"Fuck, B."

He could feel himself now – rock hard as Blaine ran his hands gently along his inner thigh, causing him to shudder. It was nothing, though, compared to what Blaine did next.

As soon as Sebastian felt the wetness of Blaine's mouth around his cock, he bucked up uncontrollably. Blaine jerked back as though anticipating the movement, expertly guiding him back onto the mattress, stroking a palm down Sebastian's stomach. Sebastian swallowed, keeping his eyes on Blaine, who's tongue was licking a stripe slowly up his dick. Blaine's eyes popped up to meet his, as he swallowed him down again, still focused on Sebastian through his eyelashes. Sebastian licked his lips, panting, the sight of Blaine's head bobbing up and down on his cock, making wet sucking sounds that just sounded dirty, sinful and beautiful.

"Fuuckk, B." Sebastian drew out, biting his lip. "I'm gonna- I can't-"

Blaine moaned, palming himself through his boxers, the vibrating from his mouth adding to the sensation. He felt Blaine's tongue the slit before taking him deeper into his mouth, and that was  _it_. Sebastian had drawn it out as long as he could, but he was panting louder and faster now and he could feel himself climbing, ready to fall over. Arching his back, Sebastian clasped Blaine's hair with his fingers, feeling his entire body erupt in a flash of exhilaration, lips open in a silent scream as he spilled into Blaine's mouth, who swallowed it down with gusto, until every drop had been cleaned from him.

"Fuck. Holy shit, killer."

Blaine laughed inwardly, placing a soft kiss on the softening flesh before bringing himself back to face level with Sebastian, who was lying flat on his back, eyes hooded, feeling his heart thump hard in his chest as his breathing slowed.

"C'mere." Sebastain whispered, pulling the other boy up against his body weakly.

"No, Bas, it's okay, I'm-" Whatever Blaine was, though, was cut off by a whimper as Sebastian's hand found it's way underneath his boxers, stroking his length gently.

"What was that, killer?" He grinned.

Blaine groaned, and Sebastian drunk in the sight of him. So many times he'd dreamed of having Blaine like this – but he never imagined that he would look this... delicious. The other boy looked utterly fucked out – writhing on the bed next to him, hair all over the place from Sebastian grasping onto it, chest flushed, sweating and panting as though he was fighting for breath, leg hooked over Sebastian's legs, burying his face in the curve of Sebastian's neck.

It didn't last all that long – apparently Blaine had worked himself up while working on Sebastian. A quick thumb over the tip drove Blaine right over the edge, as he tightened his grip on Sebastian's arm, suckling lightly on his neck as he groaned, wanton and dirty, and Sebastian grinned as the other boy spilled into his hand.

Sebastian watched as Blaine rolled onto his back, pulling Sebastian to his side, who wrapped his arms around the other boy, kissing his forehead lightly.

"So... that just happened." Sebastain mumbled into Blaine's hair, eyes closing over of their own will now.

Blaine smirked, enveloping himself in Sebastian's heat. "Yup."


	12. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have some pillow talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick warning for mentions of homophobia and mentions of sexual abuse in this chapter (the abuse doesn't actually happen, it's just mentioned in passing so I feel like I should warn just in case).

Never let it be said that Sebastian Smythe was a morning person.

It took him an embarrassingly long time for his senses to kick in, which is why he was momentarily puzzled at the softness of the mattress, and the dark mop of hair that his face was currently buried in. He wondered, for a second, if he'd managed to sneak out and snag another dark, curly haired guy in attempt to get over Blaine (not that it ever worked – but hey, at least he got a night of sex out of it).

But, no, he realised. This was not his bedroom – this was Blaine's bedroom, and last night...

_Last night._

The exhilaration hit him. Last night had been wonderful and terrifying and beautiful and everything Sebastian wanted and everything he never wanted all at the same time - but what did it even mean? Was it comfort? Companionship? Were they a thing now? Dating? Boyfriends?

 _No_. Sebastian chided himself. He really couldn't get his hopes up. He had known Blaine had been attracted to him before. In fact, he'd taken such pleasure in teasing the other boy about it back when they were both still in high school. This is what happened when two single people were attracted to one another - they ended up in bed together, right?

It didn't _mean anything._ Blaine was far too good for Sebastian.

Although, Sebastian was no stranger to waking up in bed with men, and this definitely felt different. It felt like... more, somehow. But he was willing to bet that he was alone in those feelings.

“You're thinking to loud.” Blaine groaned from beside him, pulling him closer so that Sebastian was pressed flush against Blaine's body, the abrupt realisation that Sebastian was still fully naked and Blaine only in his underwear startling him. If Blaine cared, though, he said nothing. Instead, Blaine nuzzled into Sebastian's neck with his nose, laying a soft kiss on his neck. “Go back to sleep, Bas.”

“Not tired.” Sebastian grumbled.

Blaine smirked into his neck. “Well we'll have to change that, won't we?”

Blaine's hand trailed down Sebastian's torso slowly, and Sebastian sucked in a breath as his dick stirred with interest. “You're going to be the death of me, killer.”

“I assure you, I'll try to make your passing as pleasant as possible.” Blaine replied, clamping down on his neck now, sucking a bruise into it.

“Mmm, you're definitely the sexiest nurse I've ever had, I'll give you that."

Blaine snorted, hooking his fingers into his waistband and wriggling himself on the bed to free himself from his boxers, throwing them to the side of the bed to join the rest of the piled up laundry that had been generated the previous night.

Sebastian licked his lips, taking in the sight before him, eyes trailing from the other boy's smooth neckline, down his toned chest and settling on his cock. It was definitely thicker than Sebastian's, if marginally smaller, and Sebastian couldn't help the loud groan that escaped his mouth at the thought of having Blaine inside him.

Settling onto his back as Blaine climbed over him, Sebastian felt an exhilarating thrill at the feel of Blaine's naked skin against his own. Blaine suckled on his neck softly, groaning in earnest as he ground his own erection down against Sebastian's, causing Sebastian to hiss, gripping tight onto the sides of Blaine's hips. The friction alone was intoxicating, but as Blaine reached down between them to take both their erections into his hand, Sebastian felt as though he was soaring as the pressure built.

Sebastian would forever deny the desperate whine that escaped his mouth as he came - the inarticulate mumbling from Blaine sounding far more enticing as the little shit actually _bit_ down on Sebastian's neck in the heat of his release, causing Sebastian to gasp with elation.

"Ugh, fuck, Bas!" Blaine muttered weakly as he crashed beside Sebastian, bringing his hand up to stroke over the mark on his neck lightly. "I'm so sorry, did I hurt you?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes, pulling Blaine into his arms. "You worry too much."

 

-

 

“ _Look at what we have here, boys.” A familiar voice snarled from the corner of Blaine's vision._

_It varied every time, but this one had happened before. The group crowding around them, hurling insults, calling them names – his date desperately claiming that Blaine had tricked him into attending the dance as his date._

_The betrayal was the worst part. Blaine's heart clenched as his date hurled around on him, jabbing a pointed finger into his chest. “You fags think that you can just walk around hitting on straight men, don't you? That it's okay?”_

“ _I think we should teach him a lesson, what do you think?” Another voice piped up._

_Tears blurring his vision, Blaine hunched himself against the wall. “Please, no, I-”_

“ _Shut up, fag. No one gave you permission to talk.”_

“ _Or exist!” The group laughed loudly, stepping closer to Blaine._

“ _I'm sorry! Please let me go, and I won't tell anyone.” Blaine pleaded, hands held in front of himself, his entire body clenched in fear. “I'll be-”_

_A sharp pain struck the side of his face as his date landed a heavy backhanded slap across his cheek. “Shut the fuck up! You think you'll be able to go back to school after this? We're going to tell everyone about your little secret.”_

“ _Adam...” Blaine whimpered, choking back a sob. “Please.”_

_The other boy stepped right into Blaine's face, hands fisted on his suit jacket as he slammed Blaine hard against the wall, Blaine letting out a yelp as his head and tailbone collided with the brick._

“ _I said. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Adam spat out, amplifying every word with a punch to the face, as Blaine curled up into himself sobbing, any attempt to block out the pain instantly thwarted with another blow._

_His face was covered in blood, sweat and tears now, and the other boys showed no sign of letting up. He was fairly certain he'd blacked out for a bit, because one minute he was pinned against the wall taking blows to the face, and the next minute he was curled into a ball on the ground, as the boys took turns at stomping and kicking into him. His entire body screamed in agony as Blaine wailed, unable to keep quiet._

“ _Blaine-”_

“ _Nononono, please, I'm sorry, stop, please, I-”_

“ _Blaine!”_

“ _I'm sorry, please just let me go.” Blaine pleaded, voice cracking. “'I'll do anything. I- I'll-”_

“ _Blaine, fuck - please wake up!”_

 

-

 

Blaine shot up, adrenaline still shooting through his entire body. He was panting, wide eyes darting around the room trying to survey the danger of his surroundings. He promised himself he'd never let it happen again. He'd never let anyone push him around. His fingernails dug into the bed covers, trying to grip on for dear life.

“Killer?”

Blaine yelped, curling back into himself, entire body shaking vigorously beyond his control.

There was a pause before the other voice spoke again, wavering as though unsure. “Blaine. It's me. It's Sebastian. You're okay. You're safe.”

_Safe. Sebastian._

Blaine's heart unclenched, as he let out the breath he didn't even realise he'd been holding. He blinked through the tears, eyes focusing on the body on the bed next to him. “Sebastian.” Blaine croaked, moving back onto the bed, pulling the covers over him, burying his face in his hands.

“Shh. It's okay. I- B, can I-?” Sebastian's hand wavered near his shoulder, but the other boy seemed uneasy about making contact, trying not to startle Blaine. Blaine sniffed, nodding his permission at his lover. Sebastian moved closer to him, wrapping an arm around him as Blaine folded himself in on the other boy. As Blaine closed his eyes and sobbed heavily into Sebastian's chest, Sebastian's hand carded through his hair gently.

Neither of them spoke for a little while after that. Blaine just let himself be held by Sebastian, allowing the other boy to sooth him with soft kisses to his forehead, fingers stroking his back lightly, gentle caresses of which Blaine would have never imagined Sebastian Smythe being capable. Sebastian moved them gently so that he was leaning against the headboard, allowing Blaine to lie on his chest, the skin-to-skin contact anchoring him away from the memory that haunted him since his junior year.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sebastian asked, as Blaine's breathing calmed. There was no urgency – no insistence in his voice, and Blaine knew that Sebastian wasn't going to push if he said no. He didn't want to, though. He knew Sebastian's story, and he felt that it was only fair that Sebastian heard his.

“It- it was before I transferred to Dalton,” Blaine started shakily, wiping the tears falling freely from his eyes. “I- I had just come out at school, and the other students were less tolerant than the ones at Dalton. They would shout threats and insults at me, but nothing really happened until the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance.” He couldn't look at Sebastian, focusing instead on his hands that were splayed across Sebastian's naked torso. “My date – Adam, he was openly gay, too. We had a pretty good night, and the dance was heavily chaperoned so apart from a few dirty looks and whispered insults, we didn't really get any trouble.”

His eye's met Sebastian's, who was looking at him so warmly and openly that it made Blaine's heart melt a little. He could do this. He could share this with Sebastian. Especially after everything they'd already been through together – he could let his guard down a little and spill his secrets to this boy.

“But then we went outside, and Adam's father – he was supposed to pick us up, but he was running late and...” Blaine cleared his throat, breaking eye contact again, scrunching his eyes and trying not to break back into tears.

“Hey, killer,” Sebastian whispered, running his fingers softly along Blaine's side. “You don't have to do this. It's okay.”

“No, I'm sorry, I just- it was really bad, Bas.” Blaine whispered back hoarsely, eyes shining with tears. “The dream is always different – sometimes we try to run before they catch up to us, sometimes I'm alone, and sometimes- sometimes my date ends up joining sides with _them_ , starts accusing me of sexually molesting him. But, that's not what happened. There were three other boys, and we were beat up pretty badly. I-” He swiped more tears from his eyes. “I almost _died._ ”

Sebastian's eyes closed in a grimace, as he tightened his grip around Blaine.

“I didn't go back to school after that. I was in recovery for almost a year, then I transferred to Dalton, tried to get Adam to transfer with me, but he- he wouldn't talk to me, said it was best that we stay away from one another. That was the last conversation I ever had with him.” Blaine finished solemnly, chancing a glance at the other boy.

Sebastian cupped his hands on Blaine's face gently, seeking out eye contact before speaking. “I'm so sorry, B. You didn't deserve that.” He placed a soft kiss on Blaine's lips, before pulling back. “I just- I want to go back and cause them the pain they caused you. Tenfold.”

Blaine nodded. “I know the feeling. I still want to to go back to your father's house and rip him limb from limb.” He confessed.

Sebastian huffed a soft laugh, though the humour wasn't really in it. “We're a mess, aren't we?”

Blaine shook his head. “It's not us that are the problem, Bas.” He ran his hand softly over Sebastian's palm, before threading their fingers together. “It's everyone else.”

“Hm.” Sebastian stroked the back of Blaine's thumb with his own lightly. A few minutes passed in gentle and loving touches before Sebastian spoke again, however. “My father didn't hit me until he found out I was sleeping with men.”

“I'm sorry.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Please never apologise for him. For years, I took it – I took the beatings, the pain – I thought I _deserved_ it.” He sighed. “For years I felt as though I was a monster – as though I should have died instead of my mother like my father always insisted. I really hated myself. I- I slept around, I pushed people away – hurt people that I felt I was getting too close to.” He looked at Blaine pointedly.

“Sebastian, it's okay-”

“No, it's really not, B. I will never forgive myself for how I treated you – I hope you realise that.”

Blaine sighed softly. “Well, I'll just have to forgive you enough for the both of us, huh?”

Sebastian smirked. “I doubt your friends from McKinley would ever see it that way.”

“That's not-” Blaine started, but paused as he really thought about it, before backtracking a little. “Okay, maybe they don't really trust you with me. But I think- I think Sam's coming around. I mean, he was willing to help you out, after all. And Coop – he knows about the situation, but he's distanced enough from it that he doesn't actually hold any grudges towards you.”

“Awesome. Two people might not completely hate me.” Sebastian snorted.

“Sebastian,” Blaine looked into his eyes with a serious expression. “I can say with complete honesty that I have never hated you.”

“Oh come on, B.”

“No, listen to me. Was I pissed at you? Of course! But even back then I- I think I knew that something else was going on. That there was a reason behind the way you were towards us. I- I tried so hard to hate you, Bas. I really did. But I couldn't.”

“You should have.”

“No, stop. Just stop it with the self depreciating right now and listen to me. You, Sebastian Smythe, are a good man. Some shitty things happened to you, you acted out, you did some shitty things for a short period of time, and then you stopped.”

“But I-”

“I said stop.”

“I-” Blaine silenced Sebastian the only way he knew how – pressing their mouths together hungrily, attempting to reassure him in a way that words could not.

It took them a long time to leave the bed after that.

 


	13. Communication Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian overhears something that makes him completely second guess the current status of his relationship with Blaine.

He'd been staying with Blaine for three days and he was already used to having the other boy around constantly, so it was a bit of a shock to the system when Blaine returned to work on the fourth day, leaving Sebastian to fend for himself.

At least he had an afternoon shift, though. It had given them some time for early morning heavy petting before Blaine had to go for his shower. Despite having just come, Sebastian had briefly considered joining him purely so that he could ogle naked Blaine for a little while longer, but then he reasoned that he probably wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself – not when he was allowed to reach out and touch Blaine now.

And wasn't that just the strangest thing?

For so long, he'd pined for the other boy – flirted mercilessly with him, befriended him, watched him get engaged to another guy, lost his friendship and now finally, _finally_ Sebastian was allowed to touch.

They still hadn't talked about it (god, Sebastian had no idea how to even go about talking about it), but by a mutual silent understanding, they both ended up in Blaine's bed together each night. Mostly they would just make out, maybe leave a few bites and marks on one another, then fall asleep in each other's arms.

Sebastian had _never_ shared a bed and simply slept in it with another person before Blaine. But then again, he'd never had _feelings_ for anyone before Blaine – damn hobbit just seemed to break every one of Sebastian's rules, if he was being completely honest with himself.

A quick glance at the clock told him that Blaine had only been gone for an hour. Sebastian sighed, padding to the kitchen. He was able to move about freely now without Blaine's help, although he was still walking with a slight limp on his left leg. It was the reason that Blaine felt safe to return to work, really. His boss – Tony, Blaine had told him – had been extremely reasonable, but Blaine had started to feel guilty that he was leaving the man to handle the cafe himself, and Sebastian had assured him that he could cope on his own without a babysitter, thank you very much.

After flicking on the kettle, Sebastian made his way across to the cupboard, pulling out two mugs and laying them on the counter before reminding himself that he only needed one. He scowled at the other mug, as though it was to blame for the fact that Blaine was absent right now, before returning it to the cupboard, slamming it down with a little more force than he'd meant to.

 _Shit_ , he really had to calm down. He couldn't help himself though. For the past few days, Blaine had been his safety net – keeping his mind calm and clear with gently touches and soft kisses and whispered affections, and now all Sebastian was left with was silence.

Well, silence and his own thoughts, which were progressively returning to his father.

Blaine had told him that Cooper and Sam had called the police as soon as they'd left the house, but they wanted to talk to Sebastian, and Sebastian refused point blank. It was already humiliating that Blaine, Cooper and Sam knew about how out of control his home life had been, he really didn't feel like sharing with anyone else. Blaine was still trying to talk him around to it, but Sebastian just really didn't want to deal with it.

Besides, despite the fact that his father _had_ gone too far, it's nothing Sebastian didn't deserve, no matter how much Blaine had tried to convince him otherwise. Sure, Sebastian had ended up in hospital, but isn't that exactly what Sebastian had done to Blaine?

Blaine had to get _surgery_ , for fucks sake. While he'd feigned disinterest when Santana had spat the fact at him in the McKinley choir room, it ate him up inside – was _still_ eating him up inside. The one guy that Sebastian cared for beyond a quick fuck, and Sebastian had been the monster that landed him in hospital. Not that he'd meant to hurt Blaine – he really had just wanted to play a prank on Kurt and ruin his stupid lady clothes, but it still ended with Blaine getting hurt.

What the hell was Sebastian thinking, pulling Blaine back into his life? He was fucking poison. Was he doing the right thing here, letting himself get so attached to Blaine?

The ringing of Blaine's landline broke him out of his thoughts, and Sebastian briefly considered answering it. As he made his way into the hallway, though, the sound of Blaine's voice through the answering machine signified that he was already too late.

“ _Hey! I'm not here right now, I'm probably out doing something super interesting and fun and not at all boring, so leave a message – say hi, serenade me, whatever you want! Okay, go!”_

_Beep._

Sebastian rolled his eyes, turning to make his way back into the kitchen before the voice on the other end gave him pause.

_“Blaineykins!”_

Tina, then. He knew she was one of Blaine's best friends, but he also knew the girl wasn't exactly his biggest fan.

“ _I haven't heard from you in a few days! I tried calling your cell but you wouldn't answer, so this is my last resort, I guess. You still haven't spilled the details on your date with Kurt! Hurry up and call me back, I'm dying here.”_

_Beep._

Oh.

-

He'd barely gotten through the door when Sebastian accosted him, telling him that they needed to talk, walking him into the kitchen and thrusting a freshly prepared mug of coffee into his hands.

“I'm going to go back to Paris.”

Blaine blinked, tightening his grip on his mug.

Well that wasn't what he was expecting. The small, optimistic part of him had actually been hoping that they were about to have “the talk” - the one in which both boys discussed what exactly they were to each other before one of them got in too deep and ended up getting hurt, but the clenching of Blaine's chest as Sebastian spoke those words told him that it was far too late for that.

“Oh. Uhm.” He cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting against the counter that he was leaning on, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as hell. “Oh. Well I- that's good, I guess?”

Sebastian's face was fixed with a sad smile. “Yeah, I- this has been great, killer, but I just- I think I need to go and find my sister.”

Blaine nodded, eyes cast downwards onto the kitchen floor tiles. “Yeah. Okay. Well, you can stay here as long as you need to.” He replied with a small voice.

“About that,” Sebastian spoke, moving a little closer to him and covering Blaine's hand gently with his own, clearly in an attempt to soften the blow. “I think I should sleep on the couch. I- I just- I think we need to stop what we're doing.”

And there it was – all Blaine’s hope for them shattered into pieces. Not trusting himself to speak for fear of breaking down and begging Sebastian to stay with him, he just nodded, moving past Sebastian and into his bedroom without looking back to witness Sebastian’s equally heartbroken expression.

-

Things got pretty awkward after that conversation.

Sebastian had managed to book flights and two weeks boarding with his father's credit card (which he was delighted to note hadn't been cancelled thus far), figuring that he would decide on what to do about his living situation after his arrival. He definitely needed to get a job – something that Sebastian really wasn't accustomed to. He had literally no idea what he was doing – all he knew was that he needed to get away, and he hadn't really decided how long for.

As far as Blaine was concerned, things were kept at a friendly distance – one which Sebastian knew for a fact felt completely forced, and he was willing to bet that Blaine absolutely felt the same way too. The nights were cold and lonely without Blaine there to warm him up, and the day time wasn't much better considering that they were doing a pretty good job at avoiding one another.

Still, it was better this way. At least, that was what he was telling himself. Part of him (a very large part) was telling him to just go with it, take Blaine into his arms and claim him as his own, but he really couldn't do that – especially with the knowledge that the other boy was more than likely about to get back together with Hummel.

The answer machine was still blinking three days after the reveal, and Sebastian (out of spite for Tina and Kurt) made a point of not telling Blaine about it, letting the other boy notice on his own. It didn't seem as though he'd regularly checked it, though.

He knew he was being a bit of an ass about it – it wasn't as though Blaine and Sebastian were together, after all. Blaine definitely wouldn't want that. He supposed Hummel was the lesser of two evils.

As Sebastian buttered his toast that morning, he heard footsteps approach the kitchen, and he grimaced. Now that Sebastian and Blaine had gone back to the status of “friends” (if they could even call it that), mornings were always awkward, with both boys barely awake and still dressed in their bedclothes (for Sebastian, a simple t shirt over his underwear, and Blaine always wore a gown, which Sebastian couldn't help but wonder if he was wearing any clothes under).

“Hey.” Blaine said softly, pulling some bread out of the packaging before moving over beside him to place it into the toaster. God, he was so beautiful. Even being in the same room as him was completely crushing his resolve, shattering his heart into pieces all over again.

“Morning,” Sebastian mumbled back, taking a quick bite of his toast as he sat down at the island counter, swaying a little clumsily in the stool.

“Yeah, morning.”

Once Blaine's toast was made, he took a seat next to Sebastian, who was eating in silence, trying to finish his toast as quickly as possible so that he could clear the fuck out of there and escape the awkwardness of the situation.

“So, leaving in two days, huh?”

He had no idea why Blaine was attempting small talk. Maybe he wasn't feeling quite feeling as awkward about things as Sebastian was. Then again, Sebastian had been a little more emotionally invested, hadn't he?

Sebastian just nodded in reply, eyes fixed on his now empty plate as Blaine took another bite of his own toast.

“I, uh. I was thinking that maybe we could go out or something? You know, celebrate?”

 _Celebrate._ Sebastian snorted. “Jesus, killer. Didn't realise you were looking forward to getting rid of me so much.”

“No, that's not- I don't want you to-” Blaine's face heated up, completely flustered. He looked as though he was about to say something else, finish his sentence maybe, but he seemed to decide that was a bad idea, and instead changed the train of conversation completely. “I just meant that we could maybe go out, have a sort of farewell... gathering, I guess? Invite Sam and Cooper, and whoever else you would want to come along?”

Sebastian snorted at that last statement. As if he had any _friends_ besides Blaine. He'd pretty much burned that bridge with his antics at Dalton. Still, Sebastian considered the possibility of a night out. Maybe a good lay was just what he needed to take his mind off Blaine.

“Yeah, sure, sounds good, killer.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. I am so so sorry! Things will be okay, though! I swear. They will be fixed very very soon and (SPOILERS) these dorks are going to have a very serious conversation. 
> 
> I'll try to get the next chapter out ASAP so that you're not left in suspense for too long. Thanks, as always, for kudos and comments, I love you guys so much. Feel free to say hi (I'm extremely social), comment on the storyline or even shout at me for the most recent development - anything is welcome!


	14. Hello, I Love You

It had been a shitty few days, so it only went without saying that the night out didn't quite go as planned either.

He groaned as soon as he spotted the two people who were perched at the bar. Of _course_ the night he, Blaine and Sam (Cooper couldn't make it) chose to go to the only gay bar within a decent distance to Blaine's apartment would be the night he found Hummel there. Hummel and a guy that Sebastian vaguely recognised from the back, however it wasn't until he turned around, drinks in hand that Sebastian actually figured out who he was looking at, and his face fell.

Dave Karofsky. _Shit. Fucking shit. Fuck_

He hadn't seen the guy since the night that he'd blatantly told the guy to stay in the closet, and the crushing guilt had definitely taken the wind out of Sebastian's sails.

Blaine looked just as shocked as he did to see them there, which was all manner of confusing since Sebastian assumed that he was in regular contact with his ex, considering that they were on a date not too long a go.

A date which Sebastian refused to ask Blaine about, because honestly, he really didn't need to know about how smitten the love of his life was with the guy he could never compete with. God, he felt as though his entire life consisted of trying to win Blaine's affections from Hummel. But even when he was starting to feel as though he was gaining some ground, it had been snatched right from the clutches of his fingers, leaving him completely without any hope for himself and the other boy.

Life really sucked.

Sebastian needed a _long_ , stiff drink – and then maybe some sand to bury his head in.

Things with Blaine had gotten a little less awkward in the past day – they had managed to rebuild some semblance of their previous friendship, although it was still severely strained, and Sebastian could only blame himself, really. He let his feelings take control over his brain, and now his friendship with Blaine was in tatters.

He wondered in anguish if it would ever return to the way it was before they started with the kissing and the fumbling around in bed with one another, but he highly doubted it. Now that he had tasted Blaine, he would forever want more, but god damn, Blaine meant far too much to him just to throw it away. He had to work through his feelings – had to learn to live with the fact that the other boy wanted to be with Kurt.

As the dreaded shrew himself turned to face Sebastian, Sam and Blaine, his eyes widened in shock, mirroring the look on Blaine's face. Sebastian snorted despite his displeasure of the situation. For two guys who wanted to be together, they really were fucking tragic.

He was coming over, though, and Sebastian really was way too sober for this conversation. His face set in a scowl, he turned to his friend. “I'm going to get us some drinks, what do you want?”

“Uhm. I- rum and coke?” Blaine replied, completely dazed, sight still focused on Kurt.

Sebastian huffed, muttering, “Right. Sam?”

Sam actually had the manners to look directly at Sebastian as he replied. “Yeah, same please, dude. Er, thanks.”

He was finding that he didn't actually despise Sam's company too much. The guy obviously had his dense moments, but he was actually a decent person, and Sebastian was glad to see that Blaine had at least one person to knock some sense into him once Sebastian went to Paris.

Paris, without Blaine. Ouch.

That one definitely still hurt. Try as he might to move past it, he was still feeling way too raw from the entire situation. It's not like they were a couple, and Sebastian couldn't find it in himself to blame Blaine, but after having had the chance to taste him and hold him in his arms, he was finding it a little hard to let go.

Okay. A _lot_ hard to let go.

Brushing past Kurt without even sparing a glance, he made his way over to the bar to place their order.

“Long time no see,” A voice spoke behind him, and Sebastian cringed internally. He had expected Dave to just fucking ignore him, not to strike up a converation.

Still, he wasn't about to just ignore the guy. Sebastian snorted, turning to wink at him. “Yeah, good times, right?”

“Oh, yeah, absolutely. Hey, remember that time you told me to stay in the closet? What a hoot!” Karofsky shot back.

He shifted awkwardly, eyes pointedly focused on the bartender.

Fuck, he hated apologising. But he really did owe this guy one.

“Yeah, about that, I- fuck. I'm sorry. I was a dick.”

“Yeah, you were.” Dave agreed, nodding. “But I also heard what you did. Arranging the fundraising thing. That was really big of you, man. Thank you.”

“Don't patronise me.” Sebastian grumbled, turning back to Karofsky with a glare. “I fucked up. I know that. I did what I could to try to make things right, but it doesn't even begin to make up for the amount of shitty things I'd done before that – or since, even.” Damn, he was being way too open tonight. The whole Blaine situations had him all over the place.

Before the other guy could even respond to Sebastian's outburst, though, the bartender came to take his order.

-

“Uhm... this is awkward.” Blaine sighed, eyes on the floor.

To his surprise, Kurt let out a small laugh. “Yeah. It kind of is. But I- can we talk? I think we need to talk. In private.” He glanced pointedly to Sam, who was less than subtly glancing between the two boys as though they were about to explode at any moment.

“Oh. Yeah. Sure, I- sorry. Go right ahead.” Sam replied, moving away from the two boys to join Sebastian at the bar.

“So, you and Sebastian.” Kurt started with, sounding surprisingly mellow.

“Uhm, well, no.” Blaine frowned, still avoiding Kurt's piercing gaze. Fuck, this was really difficult to talk about, never mind the fact that he was talking about it with his ex fucking boyfriend. “We, uh- I guess we tried, and it didn't quite work out?”

“What the hell do you mean it didn't work out? What the fuck did he do, Blaine?” Kurt bit out, glaring across at Sebastian, who seemed to be deep in conversation with Sam and Karofsky across at the bar. “Did he- did he _use_ you? I fucking knew it.”

“No. No he didn't _use_ me Kurt. I- we tried, and it didn't work, okay? Now drop it.”

Kurt sighed, crossing his arms. “He dumped you.” It wasn't a question. “You had sex, and he dumped you.”

“We weren't together for him to dump me. Please, I really don't want to talk about it anymore,” said Blaine, clenching his fists at his sides. It was bad enough that he had to deal with the emotional turmoil of Sebastian not wanting him – he definitely did not want Kurt to know about it. He'd embarrassed himself enough, thank you very much.

“No. Fuck this.” Kurt growled, whirled on his feet before Blaine could register what he was doing, marching over to the taller boy with a steady and furious stride.

-

“Just what the _fuck_ do you think you're doing, Smythe?” The voice screeched at him from behind, causing Sebastian to tighten his grip on his and Blaine's drinks, closing his eyes in attempt to calm himself before he did one-eighty to meet Kurt's furious glare.

“Nice to see you again, too, Lady Hummel.” Sebastian bit out. He really didn't have it in him to be nice to the guy who kept getting everything Sebastian wanted.

“Fuck you, Sebastian. Do you think I can't tell when Blaine is hurting? That it doesn't take much for me to put two and two together to figure out the source of the problem?”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at that, surveying Kurt curiously, before shrugging it off in a poor attempt to appear casual. “He's your boyfriend,” Sebastian grit out, his teeth clenched. “If anything, it should be you talking to him, not me.”

This seemed to throw Kurt off entirely. “What do you mean he's my boyfriend? He hasn't been my boyfriend in months, Sebastian. You should know that, considering that you've been fucking around with him for the past few weeks.”

“Yeah? Well you don't need to worry about that anymore. I leave for Paris tomorrow, and I'll be out of your way for good.” With that, Sebastian took a step closer to Kurt, levelling him with a glare, voice lowering practically to a growl. “But I swear to whatever fucking fashion deity you're praying to these days, Hummel. I fucking swear. If you do anything- and I mean _anything_ to hurt him, I will hunt you down, and I will make you wish you were never born.”

“Are you- are you giving me the shovel talk?” Kurt raised his eyebrow, watching the ex-Warbler in absolute disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me right now, Smythe?”

“No, Ladyface. I assure you, I'm not kidding you.” He knew he was being an asshole again – but he really couldn't help himself right now. Hummel was grinding his every last gear, and it was all he could do not to lunge forward and rip his far-too-pretty head straight from his body.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “You two are fucking morons. You need to go talk to Blaine, like, right now. Before that guy gets his way with him. The way I see it, Blaine's so fucking distraught that he just might go along with it – sober or not.”

It was only then that Sebastian turned to see what exactly Hummel was talking about.

There Blaine stood in a far off corner of the bar, seemingly in deep conversation with a guy who looked as though he was old enough to be Blaine's father. _Fuck._

-

Blaine was trying muster as much politeness that he could, but the guy just wasn't taking the hint. God, the last thing he wanted to do right now was to be completely used for sex – not when Kurt had just accused Sebastian of doing exactly that to him.

Which wasn't true. It _wasn't_. But then Sebastian's words echoed in his ears _(“this has been great, killer”)_ and what did that mean exactly? Of course, he had never specified to Sebastian that he had wanted more, so he couldn't really blame Sebastian for dumping him. Or, you know, whatever the equivalent of dumping someone was when they weren't in a relationship in the first place.

He had stopped paying attention to the guy beside him, instead trying to control the rush of blood pounding through his ears. Fuck. This was so fucked up. He fell in love with Sebastian Smythe – what the hell was he thinking? Sebastian didn't do relationships – it wasn't like the other boy ever pretended to be something he wasn't. It was all just a bit of fun to Sebastian – and he probably thought that it was the same for Blaine, and now- _fuck_. Blaine didn't even know what to think anymore.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when the guy beside him moved closer, crowding him against the wall, and Blaine's eyes widened. “Wh- wait, what-”

“I said, do you want to join me in the bathroom?” The guy asked, voice low and sultry. Blaine shuddered.

“No, I-”

“What the _fuck_ , Blaine?”

To Blaine's immense relief, the older guy snapped back, turning around to find the source of the disruption. Completely ignoring the guy, Sebastian grasped onto Blaine's sleeve, Blaine struggling to keep up with his pace as Sebastian marched them furiously across the dance floor of the club, pulling him outside the doors, expression livid.

“Bas, I-”

“It was one thing for you to go running back to Hummel after everything, but it's quite another to practically dry hump someone old enough to be your father right in front of us. Do you seriously think you're going to get back with Kurt this way?”

Blaine watched Sebastian carefully, struggling to grasp what the other boy was getting at. “One, Sebastian, I wasn't dry humping _anyone_ , and I was about to tell him to get the fuck off me and if he didn't, I would have made him. Two,” he raised his voice, vaguely aware that they were being watched by the bouncers and the clubgoers who were currently lined up at the door with curious expressions, “what do you mean 'get back with Kurt'? What, you think that because you don't want me, I'm going to just go running to whoever the fuck is interested? Why the hell do you even care anyway?”

“I didn't say I didn't want you!” Sebastian yelled, voice hoarse now. A few of the people in line jumped, but Sebastian didn't even spare them a glance, eyes dead set on boring through Blaine.

Blaine blinked.

Okay, he was definitely missing something here – and if Blaine wasn't mistaken, Sebastian was missing something too.

“Sebastian, who told you I was getting back together with Kurt?” Blaine asked shakily, trying to control his temper.

“Does it matter?” Sebastian growled.

“Well, yeah actually.” Blaine's expression softened as he stepped a little closer to Sebastian.

Sebastian folded his arms, his eyes narrowed in a glare, but he complied. “Fine. Tina left you a message on your answer machine, which you never seem to check, by the way. She wanted to know how your date with Hummel went.”

“Date? What are-” the penny dropped, Blaine's eyes widening in realisation, “Oh. Oh, fuck.”

“Yeah.” Sebastian huffed a laugh, though there was no humour present on the other boy's face. “Look, Blaine. I care about you. I do. I just- I fucking love you, okay?” Blaine's heart lept, but he let Sebastian go on. “There. Now you know. I. Fucking. Love. You. Have done for years, and it kills me that I can't make you happy. But if you being happy means that you need to be with Kurt, then I can live with it. I'm not exactly happy about it, but I can live with it.”

“Sebastian, Kurt and I aren't getting back together.” Blaine spoke when Sebastian was finally done, unable to help the soft curl to his lips at Sebastian's declaration. “It wasn't a date. We met up. We talked. I- okay, I'm going to be completely honest here, because I feel that communication hasn't been our strong suit, and I want you to hear this from me. We kissed.”

“You're kinda sending me mixed messages here, B,” Sebastian replied softly, voice breaking. His expression – oh god, his expression was completely broken. How had he not noticed before? This was tearing Sebastian apart just as much as it was Blaine.

“That's not- we kissed, and it felt wrong, and I- I told him I was in love with _you_. And... and he kind of shouted at me and stormed out and I left, and I just- I panicked because I hadn't heard from you in weeks and that's when- that's when we came to get you, Sam, Cooper and I, and- mphhh”

His babbling was interrupted when Sebastian's lips collided with his own, Blaine's eyes widening in surprise before fluttering shut, grasping onto Sebastian's biceps tightly as Sebastian carded his hand through Blaine's hair. It was by far the best kiss they had ever shared – as far as they were concerned, they were the only two people on the planet at that time, and nothing else mattered. Blaine felt as though his heart was soaring.

It wasn't until they broke apart a few minutes later that they noticed the cheers and whoops of the audience that their argument seemed to have attracted. Both boys looked at one another, their faces practically scarlet.

“Take me with you.” Blaine said it before he could even think, but once the words were out there he knew they were exactly what he wanted to say.

“What?” Sebastian asked, still a little breathless from the kiss, eyes completely glazed.

“Paris. Take me with you.” He demanded.

“B, I can't ask you to-”

“No, Sebastian. You want to be with me? Take me with you. I'm not doing anything right now. I'm working a minimum wage job and living in a tiny apartment on my own. I'm not going to school, and I'm not applying for late entry. So take me with you. Show me that you want this. Let's give us a real shot.”

Once Blaine had finished, Sebastian's lips were back on his own, kissing him softly before Sebastian pressed his forehead against Blaine's, face set in a serious expression, eyes dead on Blaine's, gazing right through to his soul. "Yes. Okay. Come with me, B."

Blaine let out a soft sob of relief. "I love you, Bas."

"I love you too, killer. But I think we should maybe move this to a more... private location?" Sebastian chuckled, all weight gone from his shoulders as he put his arms around Blaine's waist, pulling him closer. "I think we've gave our audience enough of a show." He gestured to their audience, who were still staring at them unabashed.

Blaine honest to god giggled into Sebastian's chest, light and giddy. "Yeah. Good idea. Let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Told you I'd fix it. Only two chapter to go, guys. (Or maybe three - it depends. I have them outlined, but I may have to split one). As always, thanks for the love and reviews! And if you're looking for me on tumblr, it's now keeponwarbling (I changed my url, so it's different from the one I said in earlier chapters) or riley-writes-stuff for non-Seblaine (so far it consists of one Arrow/Barriver and one Destiel fic, but I'll be building on it)


	15. Baby I'm Ready For Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed a change in the chapter count - this is due to the fact that I released there is no way I can sum up the entire story in the space of two chapters - whoops! Outline fully written, though, I'm fairly certain it should remain as it is, but if it changes again I apologise. I only just realised how much of the plot I still intend to write.   
> (I also have several timestamps planned for after the story is over, because underneath all the angst, I'm really just a sap for fluff and happy endings). Anyhoos, onto the chapter! (Warning, this is mostly smut - with a tiiiiny bit of plot weaved in at the bottom.)

After quickly apologising to Sam for dragging him to the club then promptly skipping out on him before they'd even had their first drink, Blaine and Sebastian said their goodbyes and took their leave (even Kurt got a friendly nod from Sebastian, who just smirked back and gave a small wave – and seriously, what the hell had Blaine missed?).

Their lips barely left one another's, even on the ride home – the two boys clung to one another pawing at each other desperately, their tongues rolling together, ignoring the glares that the driver was giving them from the rear-view mirror - though Blaine made sure to tip extra well for their gross PDA display in his cab, which seemed to placate the guy somewhat.

They didn't talk once they got back to Blaine's apartment. Honestly, what else was left to be said? The entire situation had been cleared up – mutual feelings were expressed. Fuck, Blaine was leaving for _Paris_ in the morning. They were doing this – they were really doing this.

(Plus, their lips were too busy to talk – they were already engaged in much more exciting and urgent activities.)

As soon as Blaine was done fumbling with his keys to let them into the apartment, Sebastian scooped Blaine up into his arms in the hallway, who wrapped his legs around Sebastian's waist, arms holding onto him around his neck. As Blaine's back was pushed into the wall, he let out a groan that he was fairly certain would have been heard by a neighbour had they been passing Blaine's front door at that moment.

“Mm- bedroom, Sebastian.” Blaine managed eventually as Sebastian's lips moved from his mouth onto trailing soft kisses across his jawline. Blaine yelped as he was wordlessly yanked from the wall so that Sebastian could carry him into the bedroom, nudging the door open with his freakishly long legs.

Suddenly, Blaine was lying flat on his back on the bed, legs still wrapped around Sebastian's waist, feeling the hardness through his jeans as their erections made contact, Sebastian pressed on top of him. Sebastian nipped at his earlobe gently before suckling just below, brushing a finger over his cheek and muttering in a low and sultry manner, “We are far too overdressed right now, killer.”

Nodding enthusiastically, Blaine moved his hands to Sebastian's shirt, fumbling with the buttons as Sebastian moved down to Blaine's zipper, tugging it down before proceeding to strip Blaine of his pants. The rest of their clothes fell away, randomly flung around different parts of the room (Blaine's shirt, for example, was currently draped over his lampshade – which thankfully was switched off, because Blaine really couldn't bring himself to move from the warmth of Sebastian's body to remove the fire hazard, which would mean his apartment would have went up in flames in the name of sex – still, not such a terrible way to go, really).

Complete nudity achieved, Sebastian's lips were back on Blaine's neck, Blaine's palms wrapped around Sebastian's arms for grip as the other man ground against him in an attempt for more friction, both moaning out loud occasionally as they hit a particularly good angle, the feeling of haziness overtaking them both.

After a while of grinding against one another, Sebastian nudged Blaine's nose with his own, eyes searching for his attention.

“Bas?” Blaine groaned, grasping onto his hips tight, his heart pounding in his chest.

“I- mmm, Blaine, I-” Sebastian's eyes fluttered shut in bliss as he struggled to get out his sentence through the intoxication, breath hitching. “I want- I need- ohhh.”

“What is it Bas?”

When Sebastian stopped rutting in favour of licking a stripe up Blaine's neck sensually, Blaine let out a whine, but when he brought his lips up to Blaine's ear, whispering “I need you to fuck me,” Blaine moaned like a whore, because _fuck yes_ , that was a much better idea. 

Using the strength of his legs, Blaine had Sebastian flipped onto his back in no time, straddling his lap as he reached over to the night stand, pulling out the condoms and lube that he'd optimistically placed in there when he and Sebastian had started fooling around together.

Sebastian was watching him, pupils blown wide as he panted frantically. Blaine moved down Sebastian's body, kissing, licking, devouring him with animalistic lust, tasting the saltiness of the sweat slicking the other man's body. He took extra care to pay attention to Sebastian's hipbones, watching in interest as Sebastian's head rolled back into the pillow, his hand rising to rake into Blaine's hair.

Feeling dizzy with desire, Blaine slicked up his fingers, lifting Sebastian's legs so that they were pressed against Sebastian's chest, resting over Blaine's shoulders. (God damn that man was flexible – Blaine hazily noted to explore that in more detail in the future).

_Fuck_ , the sight of Sebastian like this – spread out, back arched, gasping urgently as Blaine stroked one finger against his perineum – it was enough to drive anyone mad with desire. 

As he stroked his slicked finger down to Sebastian's hole, the other man bit out a moan. Blaine pressed against it, watching Sebastian carefully. When Sebastian tightened his grip in Blaine's hair, he dipped in, the feeling of the pressure sending sparks through Blaine's body in anticipation.

For someone who claimed to have engaged in intercourse with a lot of partners, Sebastian was tight – though, Blaine was vaguely aware that it probably had been a while, considering that Sebastian had been locked in his bedroom for a while. Regardless, he could feel Sebastian opening up for him, as Blaine stretched him with one, then two, and finally three fingers, Blaine rolling on the condom and slicking his own cock in preparation.

“Now, Blaine, please- ohhh.” Sebastian begged.

And who was Blaine to ignore the request? Sliding back up to meet Sebastian face to face, he removed his fingers, Sebastian keening at the loss of contact. Blaine brushed their lips together again, biting down tenderly on Sebastian's bottom lip, causing Sebastian to sound out a groan.

Sebastian let out shaky breath as Blaine lined himself against the other man's hole, the air thrumming with electricity between the two.  Then, suddenly, Blaine was enveloped in a tight heat as he slid himself slowly into Sebastian.

Then all of a sudden, everything around them disappeared. It was just Blaine and Sebastian and the pleasure that they were drowning in as Blaine buried himself into the heat, feeling as though he was going to combust on the spot. He could feel the sweat pouring off him as he rocked himself into him, Sebastian crying out hungrily, their lips devouring one another, tongues caressing.

Blaine ran his hands up Sebastian's sides until they met with Sebastian's palms, which were framing his head on the pillow, lacing them together. Sebastian squeezed his hands tight as Blaine picked up the speed, slamming into him, both men breathing raggedly together.

“Blaine, ohh, fuck,” Sebastian panted, his eyes squeezed shut.

He was getting close, and by the looks of it, Sebastian was too. Keeping Sebastian's hands pinned above his head with one hand, he trailed the other down to his cock, stroking it between them, biting down on the salty skin on Sebastian's neck softly, listening to Sebastian babble incoherently with carnal desire – a mix of expletives and Blaine's name and _ohfuckpleaseyesrightthere_.

Blaine could feel his skin prickling, drunk on the feeling of Sebastian around him. As Sebastian hooked his legs around Blaine, allowing for an entirely new angle, Blaine began to feel his stomach tighten, begging for release. Then, Sebastian tightened his grip on Blaine's hand, spilling into his other hand with a choked sob, muscles clenching around Blaine. Blaine jerked, unable to hold back any longer as he erupted in a burst of light, pulsing inside his lover's heat, whimpering shakily.

They lay like that for a while, eyes closed, chests drawn together as they panted against one another, their breathing ragged. After what felt like a few minutes, Blaine drew himself from Sebastian, still a little light headed as he lay beside him, head resting on his chest. Sebastian brought his arm around Blaine, pulling him closer, pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you,” Sebastian rasped. “So much.”

Blaine kissed Sebastian softly, unable to help the sappy grin from his face. “I love you too, Sebastian.”

-

Sebastian had fallen asleep pretty quickly in Blaine's arms, but Blaine was vaguely aware that he had to move to dispose of the condom, which was starting to feel rather uncomfortable around him. He sighed, gently drawing himself away, moving to the edge of the bed and padding into the kitchen, not bothering to dress himself. It was only Blaine and Sebastian here, no need for decency.

He still felt elated – after everything, they were finally together. No hidden feelings or games – they were both raw and open, feelings laid bare for the other to see. It was a little terrifying – but mostly, it was liberating.

After disposing of the condom and cleaning himself off in the bathroom, he returned to the bedroom with the damp cloth, frowning down at Sebastian. He was loathe to wake the other man up – he looked so at peace, breathing softly into the pillow, arms around the duvet as though he was trying to draw a hug from it. But if he didn't, Sebastian was bound to be extremely uncomfortable in the morning, so he pulled himself beside him on the bed, placing a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Mmmh?” Sebastian grumbled, one eye barely cracking open to see Blaine beside him.

“Sorry, baby. I'm just going to clean you,” Blaine soothed, rolling Sebastian onto his back. Sebastian winced as the cloth was placed on his abdomen, Blaine wiping the dried come off his stomach with mild amusement. Once he removed the cloth, Sebastian had returned to his slumber. He snorted. “Figures you'd be a heavy sleeper.”

He was starting to feel a little drowsy himself, but he forced himself to move from the bed, grabbing his laptop on the way into the living room. Sinking down on the sofa, he pulled his laptop on top of him.

After booking himself onto Sebastian's afternoon flight (which was fortunately very empty, allowing him to secure the seat next to him), Blaine opened up Facebook, checking to see who was online, and smiled. Perfect – exactly who he was looking for.

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _Hey._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _Heeeeyyy Blaine._

Blaine huffed a fond laugh.

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _A little drunk, are we?_

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _you missed all the fun  
_ _there were shots  
_ _sam stripped off his top. seriously, you should have seen the amount of men swarming around him._

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _Hahah, sounds like a wild night._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _it sure was_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _So, hey. I just wanted to thank you for tonight. Whatever you said to Sebastian seemed to have had a pretty big impact._

He bit his lip, wondering if he'd maybe overstepped a little, remembering his date-not-date with his ex a few weeks ago, and Kurt's reaction to Blaine's epiphany.

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _you're welcome  
_ _I mean I still don't trust him  
_ _but he really seems to care about you  
_ _he gave me the shovel talk, Blaine_

Blaine snorted with disbelief.

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _Yeah, he thought we were getting back together – apparently Tina thought our lunch was a date, and she left a message on the answer machine while I was out asking about it._

Which reminded him – he really ought to call her back. Most likely from Paris, since he figured he'd be getting up early to pack. He doubted there would be much time for anything else, really.

Then it hit him. _Holy shit_. He was going to Paris with Sebastian. _Sebastian Smythe_ – who he was in a _relationship_ with. Was he doing the right thing here? Were they moving too fast? He shook his head in attempt to clear the mild panic from his brain, reminding himself that he wanted this – wanted things to work between them. The risk was worth it.

He turned his attention back to his laptop, returning to his conversation with Kurt.

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _I actually wanted to talk to you about that  
_ _I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you  
_ _or kiss you to be honest – I shouldn't have done that  
_ _derek had just broken up with me, and I was a mess, and I just wanted to be with someone, and you were the safe option  
_ _god that sounds so bad. I just mean that I knew you – you were familiar.  
_ _I'm sorry  
_ _Blaine?_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _Fuck, sorry Kurt. I spaced out there for a second.  
_ _But thanks. And I'm sorry too. About the whole blurting out my feelings for Sebastian straight after our kiss. It was a bit of a dick move._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _Haha, yeah it was a bit  
_ _But about Sebastian  
_ _Honestly? I kind of get it  
_ _It was a bit hypocritical of me  
_ _I've kept a friendship with Karofsky, the same guy who bullied me in high school, and I ended up shouting at you for doing the same with Sebastian_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _He really has changed, you know._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _I'll take your word for it_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _Speaking of Karofsky – what's the deal with you guys?_

_**Kurt Hummel:  
**_ …  
 _I'm not sure  
_ _I think I need to be single for a while – discover myself, get my head straight, yadda yadda yadda  
_ _I mean not heterosexual straight, because ew  
_ _but yeah_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _Funny :P  
_ _And I get that – I do  
_ _But for what it's worth? He seems like a good guy. You know, for when you feel like dating again._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _I can't believe I'm getting dating advice from my ex boyfriend_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _God, I know. It's like we've entered into the twilight zone.  
_ _But anyway, I really need to go. I have packing to do._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _Packing?_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
**_ _Um, yeah, we leave for Paris in the morning  
_ …  
 _Kurt?_

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _sorry! I may have spat out my water, I had to dash to the kitchen to grab a towel  
_ _wow, that's pretty serious. are you sure about this?_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _Pretty sure._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _Well, good luck to you both.  
_ _And Blaine? Whenever you get back, if you want to meet up at some point, I think I'd like that  
_ _Oh god I mean as friends, please don't take that as a come on  
_ _Although to be fair, there is some sweet justice to be had by hitting on the boyfriend of the guy who tried to steal said boyfriend from me.  
_ _Holy shit our lives are weird._

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _Boyfriend – fuck that's so weird, I can't believe Sebastian Smythe is my boyfriend  
_ _I'd like that. The friends thing, I mean._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _Good :)_

_**Blaine Anderson:  
** _ _:)  
_ _good night kurt._

_**Kurt Hummel:  
** _ _night_

Blaine stared blankly at the screen for a few minutes, taking everything in. Kurt was right – their lives really were weird, but Blaine wouldn't have anything any other way. Both having moved on, it really did seem as though Kurt could truly be his friend now. Sebastian might grumble about it a little, but he knew the ex-Warbler would never try to stop him. Sebastian trusted him, and Blaine trusted Sebastian. Two years ago, he would have kicked himself in the stomach, but now he found some sort of contentment in that fact.

Rising from the couch, Blaine stretched his arms above his head, a yawn escaping. As he moved into his bedroom and folded himself into Sebastian's arms, he felt all doubt about going to Paris evaporate. They could do this. They were strong enough for this.

 


	16. Good Times, Bad Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life continues to be shitty towards Sebastian, but Blaine's determined to make things better.

It had all been a bit of a rush that morning to get everything together and get out the door. For one, Blaine had to sift through his vast array of outfits, picking and choosing the essentials and what he could bear to leave behind. Of course, Sebastian had decided to help by picking out the best outfits that he felt complimented Blaine's ass, earning him a few glares from Blaine until he'd been swatted away in favour of gathering together toiletries and such.

They'd had to call Sam (who was pretty shocked, to say the least, about Blaine's swift departure to Paris) for a lift, not trusting that they would be able to get a cab on time. Thankfully, Sam had agreed, for the simple price on being filled in on the juicy details (which Sebastian gleefully decided meant an explicit telling of their epic lovemaking the previous night, causing Sam to cover his ears - “God dammit, Sam, get your hands back on the wheel! Sebastian, stop it, he really doesn't need to hear about our sex life!” Blaine had yelled, reaching over to hold onto the steering wheel so that they didn't end up plummeting of a cliff to their immediate death.)

Still, they had managed to make it to the airport in one piece, just in time for check-in. Miracles really did happen, after all.

 

-

 

“Hey,” Sebastian whispered, nudging Blaine. They were about three hours into their flight, and Sebastian had been getting a little restless. (Okay, so he'd been restless as soon as he'd sat down, but it was just getting worse and worse as time went on).

“What is it, Sebastian?” Blaine asked, apprehensive.

“How do you feel about joining the mile high club?” Sebastian asked with a smirk, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

“Not a chance in hell, Smythe,” Blaine huffed, turning his attention back to his magazine.

“Aw, you're no fun.” Sebastian replied, with a pout (joking, Blaine was sure... well, mostly sure.)

“I'm not sullying our new relationship by consummating it in a public toilet.” Blaine said with a slightly put on sigh.

“Technically we consummated it last night, killer.”

“No, Bas.”

“Worst. Boyfriend. Ever.” Sebastian whined, turning to gaze out the window.

Blaine turned back to Sebastian, wide-eyed, heart aflutter, because it was one thing to call Sebastian his boyfriend inside his head, and quite another to hear Sebastian confirm it out loud.

(And okay, if Blaine had dragged his boyfriend into the toilet for some appreciative mutual handjob time, nobody really needed to know about it. They even sanitised their hands and everything.)

(Okay, maybe the guy glaring at them as they both stumbled out of the toilet knew about it – but Blaine and Sebastian were too busy basking in the post-orgasmic bliss to give a shit. Sebastian even had the nerve to wink at the guy before they made their way past him, Blaine doubling with laughter at the look of horror that the guy had returned.)

 

-

 

By the time they landed in Charles De Gaulle Airport, it was five in the morning in Paris, and Blaine and Sebastian were slightly worse for wear, having not been able to fall asleep for more than ten minutes at a time on the flight. In spite of that, they managed to make it to their hotel, which was located just outside of the city, in just under two hours.

Disgruntled that he hadn't gotten to see the Eiffel Tower on his way to the hotel, Blaine followed Sebastian, key card in hand, in favour of searching for their room. They had been offered assistance in carrying their luggage at the check-in desk, but they had politely declined, reasoning that they were perfectly capable of doing it on their own, and there was no need to trouble the staff at stupid o'clock in the morning.

Once they eventually found the room and Sebastian was done fumbling with the keycard to gain them entry, Blaine found that he was completely taken aback by the sheer extravagance of the suite that Sebastian had booked them into (courtesy of his father's credit card, of course – seriously, hadn't the moron bothered to check his accounts yet?). The room was light and spacious. The wooden panelled flooring allowed for plenty of walking space, in spite of the massive king sized four poster bed that lay before them, draped in complimenting neutral colours, just like the rest of the room.

Without a doubt, though, the best thing was the view from their balcony beyond the huge french windows. The hotel was situated in the country side, so the view consisted of a massive lake surrounded by trees and bushes of varying shades of green, lit up by the soft glow of the early morning Parisian sunlight.  
Opening the doors and stepping out to lean on the balcony, Blaine sighed, content, Sebastian dumping their luggage in one of the corners of the room before joining him, standing behind him and wrapping his arms around him, chin rested on his shoulder.

“Beautiful, isn't it?” Sebastian smiled, trailing his hand across Blaine's stomach, making lazy circles with his fingers. Blaine just nodded, speechless.

They spent a good five minutes or so just taking it all in – the two of them finally together, in Paris, no less, in this beautiful hotel room, and Blaine couldn't help but feel rather overwhelmed. Then, brushing a soft peck to the side of Blaine's head, Sebastian moved his hands to Blaine's hips, manoeuvring him around so that Blaine was turned to face him. “Not to be a buzzkill or anything, but we should probably get some sleep, B.”

It was then that Blaine noticed the dark circles around Sebastian's eyes, figuring that he must look pretty much the same. “Yeah, probably a good idea.” Blaine replied, running a palm over the side of Sebastian's face, his thumb stroking lightly on his cheekbone.

 

-

 

“Ughhh,” Blaine groaned, covering his eyes, trying to shield himself from the sunlight. He rolled over on the bed, hand searching out Sebastian, only to find the other side of the bed empty. “Whaa-”

“Over here, stud.” Sebastian said with a laugh. Dazed, Blaine cracked an eye open to see his boyfriend perched on one of the armchairs across from the bed, Blaine's laptop on top of him. “I hope you don't mind me stealing this,” Sebastian continued, gesturing to the laptop. “I've been up for hours and I needed something to do.”

“Mhh, 'times it?” Blaine mumbled, pulling the covers over his face.

“Eleven o'clock in the morning, babe. Go back to sleep.”

“M'okay,” Blaine replied, peeking his head back out again. “I just- coffee.”

Sebastian snorted, setting the laptop to the side before making his way over to the mini-bar and complimentary teas and coffees on the counter, flicking on the kettle. “You're adorable in the morning, you know that?”

“Fuck you, Bas.”

“Is that your way of asking for morning sex?”

“We're not having morning sex, Sebastian,” Blaine huffed, fixing his boyfriend with a tired glare.

Sebastian just chuckled, “Like I said, adorable.”

Freshly made cup of coffee in hand, Sebastian made his way over to Blaine, offering it out to him. “Here, drink up. I'm starving and I want to go out and eat something that isn't plane food.”

 

-

 

Their first few days were spent pretty much settling in – scoping out the area, learning their surroundings. Sebastian, of course, had made initial contact with his aunt on Facebook, but as the days went on without any word back, Blaine could see that Sebastian's patience wearing thin.

Not that he had said it out loud or anything – it was just the way he frowned as he opened up the laptop, no reply to his message, no response to his friend request. Blaine always found away to distract him, though, whether it was through vigorous lovemaking or simply going out for coffee, taking a walk hand-in-hand around the nearby nature park or stuffing themselves full at one of the local restaurants.

It was once they had reached the end of the first week, though, that Sebastian had really started to show signs of wear and tear. It was killing Blaine to see the hope die a little in his boyfriend's eyes each day.

Shit truly hit the fan a week and a half in. They hadn't had the chance to do much, Sebastian being way too focused on finding his sister – searching through the local archives, social media and any other possible method he could think of, and they were still no closer to finding her.

They were in their hotel room, Sebastian clicking away on the laptop, Blaine perched on the bed, legs stretched out and folded in front of him as he read through his book – _The Time Traveller's Wife_ by _Audrey Niffenegger_. It was a sort of science fiction love story, based around a man who was thrown back or forward in time without a moments notice, and how it impacted his relationship with his wife. The entire thing was entirely heartbreaking, but Blaine was finding it hard to put it down.

That was, until he heard Sebastian fold the laptop over, letting out a soft sob. Blaine lowered his book, switching his focus to his boyfriend, and felt a deep pang at the sight. Sebastian was hunched over, head buried in his hands and was breathing shakily, clearly trying to control himself.

“Bas,” Blaine said softly, setting aside his book to make his way over to his boyfriend, the sofa dipping as he took a seat beside him, moving the laptop onto the coffee table in front of them. “Baby, what's wrong?”

“I'm never going to find her, am I?” Sebastian replied, voice strained. “God, I'm never going to see my sister again, Blaine. She's the only family I have left, and I- I-” He choked, raking his hands through his hair roughly. “I just can't find her, B. I can't.”

Blaine felt his heart plummet into his stomach. Shuffling closer, Blaine pulled his boyfriend into him, Sebastian's head buried into his chest, clutching onto his sweater, trying to control the outpouring of shaky sobs.

Then suddenly, Blaine was pissed. Not at Sebastian, of course, but at everything that life had flung at him. God, his parents weren't exactly model parents, but he really couldn't comprehend what life must have been like for the man he loved. To lose his mother so young, to be torn away from his sister, and to be dragged to a new country where he knew no one, with a homophobic abusive asshole of a father who controlled his life for way too long. To go to a new school, hurt and scared, and to pull away from everyone and everything that he cared about because he couldn't handle everything that was going in around him. To be so scared of losing someone that he instead resorted to lashing out at the people around him. God, Blaine had no idea how he would cope. Even worse, he had no idea how to fix it. He wanted to fix it so bad.

So yeah, he was pissed. Because even after _everything_ , Sebastian still couldn't catch a fucking break.

As he held his boyfriend, caressing him softly, whispering encouragements to him, he made a promise to himself. A promise that he would fucking fix this for Sebastian – because he deserved to be fucking happy, and it was Blaine's job to make him happy, right?

“We'll find her, Seb.” Blaine crooned, as Sebastian sat up to face him, eyes shining with wetness. He moved his thumb to stroke away the tears, kissing him softly. “I promise, baby. We'll find her.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, guys, thank you for the overwhelming response to this story. I'm honestly so grateful, and I hope you enjoyed the new chapter (in which I continue to be mean to Sebastian. I'm so sorry. It's a sickness!)


	17. A Quiet Street In Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sick of moping, Sebastian decides to take Blaine on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, funny story, guys. You may have noticed the chapter count go up again? Yeah, sorry about that. (It actually might change again, 21 is an estimate). Anyway, hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Sebastian knew that he was being pretty unbearable – he just couldn't help it.

His aunt hadn't been the nicest person on the planet, but Sebastian never thought for one second that she would just ignore him, and there didn't seem to be any trace of his sister online, which was really freaking terrifying, because seriously – what teenager didn't at least have a Facebook profile?

She would be 17 years old by now, and that completely broke Sebastian's heart, because he obviously hadn't gotten to see her grow up.

There was a time when Claret was the centre of his universe, his best friend, absolutely fucking everything, and he was unable to be there for her. Why didn't he do this sooner?

Of course, he knew the reason. Emotional manipulation ensured that Sebastian stayed with his father, but he would be damned if that was going to stop him anymore.

And Blaine – so patient and kind – was running himself ragged trying to cheer Sebastian up.

The thing was, after his little breakdown, Sebastian had been pretty quiet. Couldn't think of anything to say, really. What _could_ he say? He felt hopeless, useless and pretty damn angry if he was telling the truth.

As much as Blaine was trying to put on a brave face, though, Sebastian could tell that his vile mood was affecting his boyfriend, and that really wasn’t okay. For this reason, after a walk by himself around the lake to clear his head, he found himself marching in a determined stride through the doors of their hotel room.

“We’re going out.”

“Uhm, excuse me?” Blaine glanced up from his laptop, raising his eyebrow.

Sebastian took a deep breath. “Blaine, I'm so sorry – I know this has been kind of shitty, and we're in Paris, and we haven't really done anything except sit around in this hotel room. Fuck, we've been officially together for almost two and a half weeks now and we haven't been on an official date.”

He blinked, then took his eyes from Sebastian for a few seconds in favour of typing something furiously on his laptop, closing it over when he was done and patting the couch, urging Sebastian to sit beside him. Sebastian complied.

“Baby,” Blaine started, grasping onto Sebastian's hand, his expression completely serious. “I knew what we were coming here for – this isn't a holiday. We're trying to find your sister.” He smoothed a thumb over Sebastian's jaw softly, frowning. “You don't need to apologise. You haven't done anything wrong.”

Sebastian sighed, grasping onto the hand that was stroking his face, bringing both Blaine's hand into his lap. “Thanks, B. But seriously, I've been a little preoccupied, and I miss you. I feel like we should maybe just take a night for us – get dressed up, go out dancing.”

Blaine snorted. “Dancing?”

“Well, yeah. You see, I have skills, and I'm an egomaniacal bastard, so it's only fair that I get to show them off,” Sebastian smirked. “Unless you're afraid of a little competition, killer.”

“Oh, it's on, Smythe. Just don't come crying to me when I whip your ass on the dancefloor.”

“Kinky,” Sebastian grinned, his eyes wrinkling slightly at the sides. “That a promise, Anderson?”

“You bet it is.”

 

-

 

Seeing as it was their first official date, Sebastian had insisted that they both dress up, which posed a bit of a problem considering that they hadn't really brought any clothes appropriate for dressing up _in_.

“Okay, well I guess we'll have to do some shopping,” Sebastian suggested, arms folded stubbornly.

“Bas, why don't we just go out for a meal?”

“Oh, we'll do that too, don't worry.”

 

-

 

For a Saturday, the streets were pretty damn quiet. Which was a godsend, really, considering how much of a tourist Blaine was being.

“Bas! Bas! I can see the Eiffel Tower, can we go closer?”

“You don't actually want me to climb that thing, do you?”

“No, no, I just want to get a picture. Please?”

As if he could say no to those pleading eyes.

 

-

 

“Baby, can we go see the Arc De Triomphe?”

Sebastian sighed. Admittedly, the landmarks were pretty close to one another, but as someone who had lived in Paris for a good chunk of his life, he didn't really get fascinated by them anymore, as remarkable as they were.

Still, though, it was Blaine's first time in Paris, and Sebastian was trying to be a good boyfriend. “Fucking fine. Come on,” Sebastian huffed, grabbing Blaine's hand and marching them through the streets.

 

-

 

“Okay, killer. You've seen the Moulin Rouge. Can we _please_ go buy some clothes now? I promise you, we'll come back. It's better at night anyway. All lit up. You'll love it.”

They had left the hotel at ten o'clock that morning, and it was steadily approaching four in the afternoon.

“Okay, okay.” Blaine replied, grinning ear to ear. “But seriously, Paris? Freakin' awesome.”

Sebastian chuckled, wrapping his arm around Blaine's shoulders as they started to walk.

 

-

 

Sebastian waited outside the store, tapping his hand against his arm absently.

Having already selected his own suit, Sebastian had handed Blaine cash that he'd already lifted from his father's credit card, telling him to go nuts, then went outside for fresh air.

It wasn’t long before it caught his eye in the window of the shop next door. A smooth white gold band, a subtle offset rose gold stripe around the middle, and he just-

Was it too soon?

Sebastian knew, of course, that Blaine was _it_ for him. He had known for years. He just never thought that he would get the chance to be with him, never mind even being able to think of _this_ as an option. But this ring – it was just so perfect, and he loved Blaine, and Blaine loved him, and it's not like he would have to immediately get down on one knee. It was just- for the future, right?

Glancing back to make sure that Blaine was still preoccupied in the boutique, he smiled softly, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched the man he loved size up two different tuxes, face set in deep concentration.

God, he was perfect.

This was crazy. Like, seriously batshit crazy.

He went into the jewellery store anyway, his father's credit card in hand.

 

-

 

“Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to take so long.” Blaine announced as he nudged his way out of the shop,  several bags on his arm.

Sebastian just smiled serenely. “It's fine, killer. We should go get some food, though. I'm starving.”

“Didn't you want to change first?”

“Nah. Let's go eat, and then we can go back to the hotel and get changed. A light lunch?”

Blaine nodded. “Let's find a cafe, then.”

They spent about twenty minutes searching for a cafe that looked half decent, but eventually, in a side-street that they probably would have missed had they not been searching hard, they decided to stop.

The cafe looked quite quaint. The building itself was pretty small, white coating the bricks. An ivy plant lay over the paintwork, crawling across the wall, and the simple sign with leaf green writing read _Manger_.

“Eat. It's literally called _Eat_.” Sebastian snorted, glancing up at the sign.

“Ugh, whatever. I don't even care anymore. I'm starving.”

“Fine, fine. Come on, let's go eat in _Eat_.”

“Shut up, Sebastian.” Blaine scolded lightly, pulling on his boyfriend's hand.

The inside was as nice as the outside. Pretty humble, but cosy, decorated in shades of natural colours and plants strategically placed around the tables. An older man smiled at them, ushering them towards a table near the corner window, to Blaine's delight. He did love a window seat.

Blaine let Sebastian do most of the talking. Blaine had learned French in high school, most of which he'd forgotten already, so he had no clue what his boyfriend and the older man were discussing, but hearing Sebastian speak French was sending tingles to places that Blaine really ought not to think of in public. The older man seemed oblivious, but Sebastian was watching him with a knowing smirk.

Soon enough, though, the man handed them both a menu each, gave Blaine a friendly smile and returned behind the counter, calling out to someone who Blaine couldn't see.

“Control yourself, B. We're in public,” Sebastian teased, winking over to Blaine.

“I wasn't- I-” Blaine fanned himself with the menu, attempting to fight off the warmth in his cheeks. This only seems to encourage Sebastian, who moved his leg so that it was rubbing against Blaine's under the table. “Bas!”

As the waiter from before returned with two glasses of water, placing them beside the boys, silence fell over the table. Sebastian waited until the waiter was gone to reply.

“I'm not doing anything, killer. You really should see someone about your skin, though. Your cheeks seem to be breaking out in a rash.”

“Screw you, Bas.”

“You'd love to, wouldn't you?” Sebastian replied, a self-satisfied smug smile on his face. “Do you want me to speak French to you during?”

“I-” Okay, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. Blaine leaned close to his boyfriend, lowering his voice. “Fuck yes. When we get back to the hotel, I'm going to ruin you.”

This seemed to take Sebastian by surprise, who choked on his water.

“Excuse me, sir. Are you okay?” A girls voice this time. Blaine turned to see a waitress approach them, eyebrows drawn in concern. She looked quite young, but pretty tall for her age – her long, blonde hair flowed down to just above her waist, and her eyes were the spitting image of Sebastian's.

Then suddenly, Blaine knew. He just _knew_.

Sebastian seemed to twig at the same time, head snapping up to meet the girl's eyes, which widened in shock. He rose to his feet to greet her properly.

“Seb?”

“Claret,” Sebastian managed, throat still strained from the choking.

“I- oh my god!” The blonde lunged forward, pulling her brother into her, enveloping him in a tight hug. Sebastian, still pretty dazed, brought his arms around Claret's back, squeezing her tight.

Blaine smiled, watching the exchange quietly. Sebastian's eyes were closed tight, as though trying to savour the moment – but he could see a small tear escape his eye, and Blaine's breath caught in his throat.

Both drawing back to look at one another, Claret sent Sebastian a radiant smile, grasping onto his hand and squeezing it tight. “I can't believe you're here! What are you doing here?”

Seemingly recovered from his choking fit, Sebastian's gaze was firmly set on his sister, taking her in. Blaine couldn't really blame him – she was beautiful. Of course she was – she shared the same genes as Sebastian. “I- I came to find you.”

Claret blinked, her expression softening onto one of awe. “Just. Hold on. Give me a minute. I need to speak to Jean Paul – we're really, really quiet right now, so he'll probably let me clock out early. Just wait there.”

“No, no, I've seen you now,” Sebastian joked, “I'm going back to Ohio.”

Claret just shot him a glare, smacking him lightly on the side. “Quiet, you.”

Blaine's heart was filled with joy. He was well aware that to both Sebastian and Claret, he was practically non-existent right now. He really didn't care, he was just far too excited, and he was happy to sit in the background so that the siblings could relearn one another.

Sebastian watched his sister walk away, still completely dazed. Blaine didn't even try to get his attention – clearly, he was elsewhere right now. Claret was gone for less than two minutes before she returned, pulling her apron over her head, a wide grin on her face.

“Okay, okay! I'm done for the day. So hey, who's your hot friend?” Claret asked, motioning her head towards Blaine.

For the first time since he clapped his eyes on his sister, Sebastian's gaze returned to Blaine, who he seemed to realise he had been ignoring, because he smiled apologetically, to which Blaine shook his head, because really, there was no need for him to be sorry.

“That,” Sebastian said, “Is Blaine Anderson. My hot _boyfriend_. He's mine. Paws off.”

Claret giggled, throwing Blaine a wink. “Sorry to hear that. I bet he's a handful.”

Blaine chuckled, “You don’t know the half of it.”

After dragging a chair over to beside where Sebastian was sitting, Claret took her seat, leaving little personal space in between herself and her brother. She turned her gaze back to Sebastian, a soft smile on her lips, linking their arms together. “I missed you. Tell me about your life. How did you guys meet? How did you get together?”

“Oh.” Sebastian glanced over to Blaine, who smiled encouragingly at him. “That's a really long story.”

“Well, I've got-” Claret checked her watch, frowning. “I've got over two hours.”

“Hot date?”

“Uhm. No, I- it's also a long story.” For the first time since Claret approached them, her face seemed to fall a little, watching Sebastian self-consciously. “Tell you what – you go, then I go. Deal?”

Sebastian sighed. “Fine, deal. But you're not going to like it.”

Claret winced. “I feel that you're probably not going to like what I have to tell you, either.”

“Uhm, do you want me to go?” Blaine asked, because this moment was seeming way too private, and Blaine really didn't want to intrude.

“No, no,” Claret smiled at Blaine. “I want to get to know you, too, hot stuff. You're family.”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “God, you are so like your brother.”

“She just has good taste, killer.” Sebastian replied, winking over at Blaine.

“So,” Claret tried again, patting Sebastian's arm lightly. “Tell me your story.”

 


	18. My Dark Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yeah. This chapter is a monster. I'm sorry guys. I considered splitting it in half so that it would at least sort of line up with the previous chapter sizes, but I just couldn't figure out where to split it that would make sense. I also tried to cut it and ended up with EVEN MORE WORDS. So it's getting uploaded as is, in all it's 7000+ worded glory.  
> (Also? It's sort of a recap, I guess, of everything that's happened up until now between the boys, and we learn Claret's secret.)

Sebastian really didn't want his sister to hear all the gory details of what exactly had went down since he'd left for Ohio, but here's the thing – she _deserved_ to know.

He had been so absent from her life, and judging by the dark look settled subtly beneath her facade, it hadn't exactly been an easy one. Oh, he was certain that no one else could see it – not even Blaine. But despite the fact that he'd been separated from her for years, Sebastian still knew his sister's expressions like the back of his hand, and there was something she wasn't quite telling him yet.

Still, a promise was a promise, so after making their orders with the waiter – Jean Paul, Claret had informed them, Sebastian took Claret's hands into his own, clasping them on the table. He wasn't sure if he was doing it to soften the blow, or for the sake of having something to hold onto – something to remind him that he was no longer _there_ anymore, but in any case, both their grips tightened, and Sebastian took a deep breath.

“I mean it when I said this wasn't going to be easy to hear. Are you sure you want to know?”

Claret softened, eyes piercing his own. “Are you sure _you_ want to tell me this? I can see that it's upsetting you, Seb. You don't have to-”

“No, no. I want to.” Sighing, he shook his head. “Well, actually, no. I really don't want to. But I need to. I just- I need you to try to stay calm, okay?”

“O-okay.” Claret replied, apprehensive.

“Okay.” He closed his eyes, gathering himself. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he was pretty sure he was about to break into a sweat.

 _Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck_ , he was so nervous. He hadn't really told anyone before. Of course, Blaine already knew, but knowing was different than hearing it, right?

He glanced at Blaine, who was watching him with rapt attention, eyes gentle and kind.

Okay, he could do this.

He exhaled slowly, then started talking.

“I guess I should start from the beginning. When mom died-” He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the crack in his voice to disappear. Fuck, he was so pathetic. Still, he felt Claret squeeze his hand gently, a sad look in her eyes, lips tilted into a slight frown.

He took a deep breath, starting again, voice a little stronger. “When mom died, dad died with her. The guy that took me to Ohio? He-” Sebastian lowered his eyes, unable to watch his sister's face. He surprised even himself when his voice lowered to a growl, “He was a monster.”

He heard his sister suck in a breath, saw Blaine's hand move towards his own on the table, but he seemed to move it back. Which, no. Sebastian wasn't having that. Keeping one hand clutched onto Claret's, he took Blaine's hand with the other, rubbing his knuckles gently with his thumb.

Here, with the support of the two people he cared about most in the world, he gathered the strength to carry on.

“At first, he would just pretty much ignore me – maybe shout at me now and again, hurl insults. Nothing physical. I became... bitter, rebellious. I don't know- I guess I was just trying to distract myself. I really didn't know what to do. So I-”

He sighed. This wasn't really something he wanted his sister to know about him, but he didn't really have a choice. “I'm not proud of it, but I started sleeping around. It was all so meaningless, but it was a distraction, and it worked for a while, but then-”

He let out a shaky breath.

“Then he found out. That I was gay. I- I don't know how. I guess I just wasn't careful enough. He was pissed. And then he-”

_Shit._

“And then it turned violent.” The sentence was so quiet, he couldn't be sure anyone heard it, but hearing his sister choke a sob beside him, and feeling Blaine bring his hand to his lips with a gentle, soothing kiss, he knew they must have.

“Oh, god, Seb-” Claret said, voice wavering.

Still afraid to look at his sister for fear of seeing the look that he must have put on her face, Sebastian set his gaze firmly on the hands intertwined with his own – both his sister's, and Blaine's.

“I- I won't lie. It was pretty bad. He was smart about it – always made sure there were no physical marks where anyone could see, and when there were, he'd get me to lie to the school and everyone else about it. I became pretty withdrawn, cold, calculated. I just- I turned into a horrible person.”

“Bas, you weren't-”

“Blaine, don't. I know you're trying to help, and I love you for that, but don't patronise me. I may have had a shitty life, but it still doesn't justify the way I was.”

Claret was quiet, and he chanced a glance at his sister, who was clearly struggling to hold it together – her face was crumpled, her shoulders tense, and there were tear tracks trailing down her cheeks. _Fuck_ , he hated that look. And he hated that _he_ was the one who put it there.

He had to keep talking, though, and he couldn't do that while looking at her face, so he returned his gaze to their hands.

“I was cruel. I was hurting, so I felt like everyone else should be hurting, too. I'd made Captain of the Lacrosse team, and the Warblers, which is the Dalton Academy glee club. I spent the rest of my time pretty much pushing anyone away who tried to befriend me. That's when I met Blaine.”

He closed his eyes, and suddenly he was back at Dalton, watching the most beautiful boy he'd ever seen in his entire life make his way into the choir room, all smiles and wide eyes, reaching out for his hand.

And this- he could talk about this. He could wax on about Blaine for days, but he was pretty sure his feelings for Blaine were pretty much out in the open for everyone to see, so he decided to keep it brief.

“I was drawn to him immediately. He was the first person I befriended since moving to Ohio. I'd heard about him before – he attended Dalton before I did, but he transferred. The Warblers talked about him all the time – how he was gorgeous, sang like a dream – even the straight ones seemed to have it bad for him. I didn't understand it, until he showed up.”

“Love at first sight?” Claret asked, voice still a little strained.

He smiled softly at Blaine. “For me? I think so. Blaine had a boyfriend though.”

Blaine returned his smile, slightly apologetic. “I mean, I liked you. I _really_ liked you. More than I should have. And I think that part of me – the part that knew that Kurt and I just weren't right for each other – just wanted to run away with you right then and there. It was... confusing. On the one hand, I loved Kurt, and I'm not going to insult you by pretending I didn't, but I think even then I just _knew_ , you know? I can't- I don't know how to explain it.”

Sebastian nodded, feeling a bit lighter, because he couldn't pretend that it didn't make him happy to hear that his feelings for Blaine hadn't been entirely unrequited, even if it had been a little stronger on his side at the time. All that mattered, really, was that they were together _now_.

He chuckled, turning back to Claret, who was watching the two with a contented look on her face.

“So, yeah. We became friends. Sort of. I didn't realise what I was feeling at first – telling myself that it was all a strategy. I wanted dad to just for once be proud of me, so I was pretty determined to have the Warblers take home the Nationals trophy, and kept telling myself that befriending the competition would be beneficial. I mean, I did hit on him a few times.”

Blaine snorted, “Understatement.”

Sebastian chuckled. “Yeah, okay. I hit on him a lot. Like, every time we spoke.”

“I'm not going to lie, either. I kind of revelled in it. But I just felt so guilty,” Blaine added, with another light squeeze to his hand.

But then Sebastian sighed, because although Blaine was by far the best thing that had happened to him in Ohio, the next part really stung to talk about.

Bracing himself, he continued.

“But I fucked up. Like I said before, I was bitter, and, well- long story short, Blaine ended up getting injured because of my stupid mistake. I've never truly forgiven myself.”

“You weren't trying to hurt anybody. I know it was a mistake,” Blaine said, in attempt to make Sebastian feel better.

“Believe it or not, I know that.” Sebastian frowned. “Still doesn't help.”

“You were hurting.”

“Yeah. I was. Dad was, too. It doesn't mean that causing someone harm is okay.”

“Seb,” Claret spoke up, eyes piercing Sebastian's once more. “An accident and deliberate violence is not the same thing.”

He smiled sadly at her, because if she had been there at the time, Claret would have slapped him. Then again, maybe if Claret would have been there, Sebastian would have had someone to lean on instead of lashing out. Still, he couldn't feel too bad about it. As awful as his father had been to him, he would take all the pain in the world if it meant that Claret didn't suffer from it.

“Blaine wasn't the only one to get hurt because of my actions. There was a guy, Dave Karofsky – he went to Scandals a lot, the local nightclub for the gay community – or, LGBT plus, whatever. But Dave was gay – and in the closet, and he asked my advice once, and the advice that I gave him was really shitty. Stay in the closet.”

Claret frowned, narrowing her eyes at Sebastian.

“Like I said, I was- I was horrible. And he- Dave- was outed at school. Tried to kill himself. I know that it wasn't just me, but even the idea that I played some sort of part in that – fuck, it ate me up inside. I became more depressed. Withdrawn. I-”

He his eyes shifted towards Blaine, a timid frown playing on his lips, because even Blaine hadn't heard this part. “I resigned as captain of the Warblers, letting a new guy take over – Hunter. I was on anti-depressants, barely holding it together, and I just- I didn't care anymore. Hunter was just as bad of a captain as I was, but I just sort of- faded into the sidelines. The last I saw of Blaine for a while was in my final year.”

He still felt it – the stab in his gut at the memory. That's all it was, though. A memory. He had Blaine now. Blaine loved _him_ , not Kurt.

“I was captain again. Hunter dropped out – he was caught cheating, used fear and intimidation to make sure that the group took performance enhancing drugs. Drugs which, in all honesty, we really didn't need. With the right captain, we could have won fairly. But... yeah. Blaine came to visit.”

“I'm so sorry, Bas. I shouldn't have asked you to help me.”

“You didn't know, killer.”

“Didn't I?” Blaine sighed, eyebrows drawn in, gnawing on his bottom lip before he continued. “I mean- I _knew_ you liked me. You made no secret of it. I guess I just- I thought that you were over it, you know? And I thought I was, too.” He shook his head sadly. “I shouldn't have asked you to help me propose to Kurt.”

At that, Claret's eyes snapped to Sebastian's, sympathy etched clearly on her face. “That must have been difficult.”

“It was.” Sebastian agreed with a deep sigh, shoulders sinking a little.

He remembered with complete clarity the feeling that had taken over him afterwards – his breakdown in the choir room after he thought everyone had left. Except Berry, of course. He wondered briefly if Rachel had ever spilled on what happened after the proposal, but then he decided it didn't really matter. Maybe he would ask Blaine later for the sake of curiosity.

“But I wanted to make him happy. So I helped. We parted ways after that – Blaine moved on with Kurt, I went to Ohio State University at dad's insistence to study law, because some fucked up part of me still wanted to make him proud. But I just didn't take to it – so I dropped out.”

He paused, considering carefully of how much Claret needed to know about the next part – the rekindling of his friendship with Blaine. As personal as everything had been already, this part was the worst, because really- how could he tell his baby sister that he tried to take his own fucking life?

Still, she deserved to know everything, so he pushed on.

“Blaine and I met again, shortly after I dropped out, and Blaine and his fiancee had broken it off. I spotted him at a nightclub when I was out getting some fresh air. I knew the guy that worked behind the bar, and he'd let me borrow his key card to go out the staff door.” He didn't bother telling them about _how_ he knew the guy – it pretty much went unsaid, given Sebastian's promiscuous tendencies. “I nearly just turned back, went right back inside, but I stopped – couldn't resist, really. I pulled out my phone and texted his number.”

“Now that we're on the subject, how did you get my number? You deleted it. I know you did.”

Sebastian laughed, surprisingly light. “I did. From my phone. My memory didn't seem to want to let it go, though.”

He heard Blaine suck in a breath. “You remembered my phone number? After all that time?”

“Always, killer.” He winked, and Blaine chortled at the private joke and the slight throwback to their bonding the day after the club.

He was getting ahead of himself, though.

“So I texted him, sneaked him through the back door so he didn't need to wait in the queue. I didn't want to push my luck, though, so after leaving him, I returned to- uh. Bar guy.”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “You don't even remember his name?”

“I-” Sebastian cringed. “I don't think I knew his name.”

“Classy, Seb.” Claret teased.

“Absolutely. But I wasn't the only one full of class that night, was I, B?”

Sebastian smirked, watching as Blaine momentarily withdrew his hand from Sebastian's in favour of covering his face, a trace of redness lining his cheeks.

“Ugh. I was wrecked.”

“You sure were. He threw up on me twice, you know.” Sebastian told Claret, who giggled. Blaine took his hand again, a playful glare on his face. “By the time I found him, he was just- gone. I couldn't find his friend, Sam, so I took him home with me and put him to bed.”

“Where did you sleep?” Blaine asked. Sebastian got the idea that he'd maybe been wondering for a while.

“I didn't.”

Blaine blinked. “What?”

“I was kind of worried that you were going to choke on your own vomit. So I pulled up a chair and waited until you woke up.”

“That's sweet, Bas. But also? A little creepy.”

Snorting, Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Blaine playfully. “I didn't watch you all night, don't flatter yourself. I read. I left for a little while, making sure the house was still empty, because the last fucking thing I needed was dad to come back and find you there, and-” He sighed. “Yeah.”

“I hate him.” Claret piped up, voice low with anger.

“Me too,” Blaine agreed, patting Claret gently on the shoulder in a gesture of solidarity.

It melted Sebastian's heart a little, the sight of his sister and his boyfriend forming some sort of comradery. Not for the first time, Sebastian was struck with how lucky he was. Blaine at his side, his sister back in his life – he really couldn't ask for more.

 _Well_. He thought of the ring, a heavy weight in his jacket pocket. _Not much more, anyway_.

“We became friends after that,” Sebastian said, pushing on. “Sort of. We texted, bantered back and forth, but we didn't see each other again until I-”

Sebastian averted his eyes. Fuck, he was dreading this part.

“Dad found out that I'd dropped out – roughed me up pretty bad, and left me bruised and battered on the kitchen floor. I just seemed to... snap. Swallowed all of the anti-depressants I had left.”

At that, a quiet sob escaped his sister's lips, and Sebastian shifted in his chair, fixing her with a timid expression.

“I- I don't-” Claret tried, voice completely broken, expression of absolute devastation, and Sebastian felt the guilt burst through him, because he understood. If he'd succeeded, they wouldn't be here – Claret would have never seen him again.

“I'm sorry,” Sebastian said quietly. “I wasn't- I didn't think. I just- I wanted it to be over, but I think part of me still wanted to live. I called Blaine – wanted to, I don't know- I guess I told myself that I wanted to say goodbye.” A humourless laugh escaped his chest. “He didn't answer, and I passed out. Woke up in hospital after they'd pumped my stomach. From what I understand, Blaine found me.”

Blaine let out a breath, turning to Claret. “I was so scared. I got the messages, tried to call back, and he- he answered, but he was delirious.”

“I don't even remember speaking to you,” Sebastian said, almost a whisper.

“You passed out while I had you on the line. I tore ass to your house, found you passed out, covered in bruises and blood. I-” Blaine swallowed, closing his eyes. “I can't stop seeing it, Bas. We could have lost you.”

And that was it, wasn't it? The crux of the problem. At the time, Sebastian was in so deep, he hadn't stopped to think about how it would affect Blaine, or Claret for that matter. He was just thinking about himself, and how it would be so easy just to slip away, leave all his problems behind.

“I'm so sorry. I promise, I will never do it again. No matter what happens.”

He knew it was little comfort – it was one thing to promise something, and quite another to follow through, but Sebastian was in a better place now. Without his father constantly dragging him down, without the fear of having to constantly watch his back, he didn't even need the anti-depressants anymore. He hadn't really thought about them since he'd gotten out, really.

Of course, it wasn't as simple as that. Depression didn't just leave, it merely lay dormant within him. But without the added stress of his father, and with the support of Blaine and Claret? He could get through it. Fuck, even if Blaine were to eventually tire of his shit and break it off with him, Sebastian had no doubt that he would still be able to turn to the man in a crisis.

“So I- yeah. I woke up in the hospital – Blaine was still there, out in the waiting area. He tried to get me to open up, but I didn't want to. I was scared, and I was just used to bottling it up and getting on with it. As far as I was concerned, it wasn't the first time I'd ended up in the hospital because of dad, and I didn't think it would be the last time either. Blaine visited me a few times – we grew closer. He,” He glanced at Blaine, smiling slightly at the memory, because it was a little funny now after everything. “He kissed me because his ex updated his Facebook relationship status.”

“I'm sorry about that. It sucks that _that_ was our first kiss.”

“I have to say, I did prefer our second kiss. And after.” Sebastian winked, Blaine blanched and Claret looked confused for about a second, before her face dawned with realisation.

“Ugh, ew!” She smacked Sebastian on the arm lightly. “Too much information, Seb.”

Sebastian chortled. “We're getting ahead of ourselves anyway. It nearly killed me, but I broke the kiss, told him I didn't want to be his rebound. We kept things friendly after that. Then dad came to take me home.” He swallowed thickly. “I guess I just- I was still completely under his control, so I went with him. He- he took my phone, locked me in my bedroom for- a week?”

He glanced at Blaine, looking for confirmation.

Clearing his throat, Blaine replied, “Nine days.”

“Nine days, then. He mostly left me alone, but I felt as though I was going mad. I was terrified, starved of human contact, and I felt as though I was a sitting duck – just waiting for dad to come and tear me apart as soon as he got the chance. So I- I tried to run. But he caught me – knocked me out, and I woke up tied to a chair, my full body in agony. He must have taken his anger out on me while unconscious.”

Claret was quiet again, but instead of sadness or sympathy, her expression was one that Sebastian had never seen cross his sister's face before – pure, unfiltered hatred. Her lips were pursed, and she was breathing heavily through her flaring nostrils, nails of her free hand digging into her palm.

Blaine had a similar expression, but his was also laced with sadness – he'd been there, he saw what state Sebastian had been in.

“I think you're better telling the next part, killer.” Sebastian said, partly because he didn't really know the full details, but mostly because he had talked himself hoarse, and in all honesty he was starting to feel a little done in.

“Oh. Well... yeah, I had asked my brother and my best friend to help me get Sebastian out. I hadn't heard from him in over a week, and by then, I had already pretty much pieced together what had been going on.” Blaine sighed, eyes glued to his water. “My brother could charm a mountain lion. He managed to convince your father that he was a neighbour, and somehow managed to get him to invite him into the house so that he could make sure the coast was clear for me to sneak up to get Sebastian.”

Blaine's eyes shot up to Sebastian, bringing his other hand to cover the one already gripping onto Sebastian's – almost as though he was still in disbelief that Sebastian was safe. “I found h-him-” Blaine choked a sob, and Sebastian ached to wrap his arms around his boyfriend, tell him everything was okay, but Blaine continued before any movement could be made, voice tight. “I found him tied to the chair – gagged, bruised, bloody... I just- I shouldn't have left it so long. It's my fault.”

“You got me out, though, killer.” Sebastian replied, smiling softly at him. “I- if it wasn't for you, I don't know where I'd be right now.”

Sebastian felt the air on one of his hands as Claret let go, rounding the table in one swift motion, and drawing Blaine into a tight embrace before either boy could figure out what was happening. Before he knew it, Sebastian was on his feet, too, perching at the other side of his boyfriend's chair, arms wrapping around them both.

“Thank you,” Claret whispered to Blaine, smiling softly into his hair – voice still a little strained. “I know you blame yourself, but it's not your fault. Thank you so much for saving him.”

The three were so wrapped up in one another, Sebastian barely noticed as Jean Paul swooped in with their meals, placing them on the table, not daring to look in their direction. He could see the soft smile tugging on the waiter's lips, though.

“Mm, something smells good.” Blaine choked in a tiny burst of giggles through his tears, which was just fucking adorable, and Sebastian wasn't ashamed to admit it. Pressing a soft kiss to Blaine's cheek, Sebastian made his way back to his chair, huffing in amusement as Claret brushed a second kiss on his boyfriend's cheek, causing Blaine to blush furiously.

“I seem to be causing quite a reaction to your boyfriend, Seb. Are you sure he's gay?” She sent a flirty smirk Blaine's way.

“I'm sure. We've done some pretty gay things.”

“Bas!” Blaine covered his face, redness creeping down past his neck.

“He could be bi.”

“I'm not.” Blaine mumbled into his hands, peeking through his fingers. “Kissed a girl once. Didn't take.”

He wasn't sure what it was – maybe the strong emotions that had been circling the table since Claret appeared before them, maybe the fact that his sister delighted in winding Blaine up as much as Sebastian did, or maybe it was the display of absolute adorableness of Blaine Anderson – or most likely, a mixture of everything. Whatever the cause, Sebastian felt the adrenaline coursing through him, as he descended in to a fit of uncontrollable giggles, shoulders shaking vigorously.

“I don't-” Blaine frowned, glancing at Claret, who was biting her lip with barely concealed amusement, before she followed her brother over the edge, giggling behind her hand.

Blaine sat back, folding his arms, fond smile playing on his lips. “You're both crazy. I'm dining with crazy people.”

“You're just so adorable,” Claret replied, still shaking with laughter.

It took a few minutes for them to sober, so by the time the siblings calmed down, Blaine had already eaten half of his burger, and had significantly less fries on his plate.

Suddenly, Sebastian was reminded of the fact that he hadn't eaten all day, his stomach panging with hunger pains, so he wrapped his hand around his fork, twisting the spaghetti around it, and abruptly shoved it into his mouth.

 

-

 

“Ughhh, I'm so full. I'm not moving for days. Do you think your boss will let us just camp out here for the rest of the week?” Sebastian groaned, eyes glazed through his food coma.

“He'd probably make you help him do the dishes and get you cleaning.” Claret grinned, patting her brother on the shoulder.

Sebastian groaned again, and was about to complain before he was rudely interrupted by Blaine's ringtone – the Harry Potter theme tune. What a dork.

“Oops, sorry. I'll just turn it- oh. Oh shit.” Blaine's eyes widened in panic.

“What? Who is it, killer?”

“Tina.”

Sebastian snorted. “You still haven't called her back?”

Blaine cringed. “She's going to kill me, isn't she?”

“Oh, most likely. What do you think she'll be more pissed about – the fact that you didn't call her back, the fact that you're not getting back with Kurt, or the fact that you went to Paris, with _me_ of all people, without telling her?”

“Fuckfuckfuck.. okay, I'm going to go-” The phone stopped for a few seconds, then started back up again, Blaine watching it as though it were a ticking time bomb. “Uhm. I'm going to take this. Sorry. Excuse me.” He nodded to Claret, who smiled at him with a small wave as he left the table, making his way out the door.

Sebastian could still see him outside – aided by the fact that the cafe was surrounded by windows. His poor boyfriend looked positively distressed. By the looks of it, he hadn't even got the chance to talk before Tina began giving him a dressing down.

“So... he was going to get back with his ex?”

Snorting, Sebastian shook his head. “No, he wasn't. There was a bit of a misunderstanding. Let's just say that B's friends... don't exactly like me.”

Claret sighed, “I wish I could say that I didn't understand why, but from what you've told me about your... history, I can guess.”

“Yeah.”

“So... how long have you been together?”

“Unofficially? We uh- we... for lack of a better expression, we, uh, 'connected' on the night that he came to get me from our father's house.”

“And officially?”

“Two and a half weeks.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“You're like a married couple already, though.” Claret smirked, eyes glistening with mirth.

Eyes darting to Blaine, who had his back turned, still talking into the phone, Sebastian dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out the box that he bought earlier, turning his attention back to his sister, who's eyes were nearly bulging out her skull. “Is... is that?”

“Yeah.” Sebastian replied, dopey smile on his face.

“Can I- can I see?”

He passed the box over to her, and watched in amusement as she prodded the box open, a soft breath of awe escaping from her lips.

Closing the box, she handed it back over to Sebastian.

“You don't think it's too soon?” Sebastian asked, apprehensive.

“No. Are you kidding me? You guys are so ridiculously in love, it's disgusting. You might have only been officially together for over two weeks, but by the sounds of it this has been going on for years.”

“Yeah,” Sebastian replied, slipping the box back into his pocket, watching as Blaine ended the call, turning back in to enter the restaurant, slipping back into his seat.

“Hey, what did I miss?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Claret grinned, laying it on a little thick. Sebastian sent her a heated glare.

Thankfully, Blaine looked way too distracted to notice.

“Are you okay, B?”

He blinked, gazing down at his phone. “I just got the dressing down of the century.”

Sebastian snorted, rubbing Blaine's arm consolingly. “It's okay, baby. She'll get over it.”

Blaine nodded, “I know. She'll come around. I guess it was a lot to take in. And- yeah, I really shouldn't have left it so long to call her back. I guess I was just so swept up in everything that I forgot I have a life outside of-” he gestured between himself and Sebastian, “this.”

“Speaking of which, you've heard our story. You said you had something to tell me?”

Claret suddenly looked panicked, eyes darting between Sebastian and the door. “It's- ah, I- I don't think it's the right time to talk about it.”

“Seriously? I spill my entire arsenal of personal shit before you, and you're going to back out on me?” Sebastian replied, shaking his head with an air of exaggerated disappointment.

“You're such an asshole.” Claret grunted, kicking him under the table.

“Ow! I- Did you just- Blaine, my baby sister just called me an asshole.”

“That she did, Bas.” Blaine replied, grinning at Claret, who snickered.

Sebastian reached out for his sister, eyes all manner of serious now. “Claret, I know it's been years and you don't really know me anymore – not now me, anyway – but I'll always be your big brother, and I really want to know what's been happening with you, but I understand if it's too personal.”

“Too personal? You just told me that our father has been physically abusing you for years, Sebastian.” She replied, voice low and dangerous. Sebastian flinched, because while it was true, he fucking hated that word.

Claret's expression melted, and her face crumpled. “God, I just- I can't believe he'd-” She slammed her fist on the table with a snarl, Blaine and Sebastian both startling a little. “I- fuck, I'm sorry, I've been trying to stay calm, but it's not working. I want to kill him, Sebastian. Slowly. Painfully.” Her hand shaking in Sebastian's, she closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly. “I'm sorry. I should have- I don't know, I should have been there. I should have done something.”

“Don't ever apologise for him, Claret.” Sebastian replied, tracing circles on the back of her hand with her thumb in attempt to soothe her. “Ever. You hear me? It's not your fault, or Blaine's, or mine for that matter, no matter how much I used to tell myself it was. This is all on him.”

Mouth tight, Claret nodded.

“I guess I should-” She sighed, stopping to gather herself for a second. “You shared with me. You deserve to know. Just... just try to stay calm, okay?”

Despite Claret's prompt, this only caused Sebastian to tense, and for the first time truly consider how worried his sister seemed to be about how he was going to react to whatever she was about to tell him.

Still, though, he couldn't imagine it would be anything that would make him dislike his sister. She'd already heard about the shit that Sebastian had pulled while he was in Dalton, and she was still sitting there, right? He'd be a hypocrite to judge Claret based on any mistakes she may have made in the past.

“No matter what it is, I'm here,” Sebastian assured her.

“I-” Claret bit her lip, averting her eyes. “I have a daughter.”

Sebastian blinked, frozen on the spot.

That... was not what he was expecting. In fact, he must have heard her wrong.

“Come again?”

He glanced at Blaine for confirmation, who looked equally as stricken as himself, which caused Sebastian's gut to twist.

“Uhm. Her name is Adilene,” Claret offered. “She's two years old.”

“She's- she's two years old.”

“Yes.”

“Which means you were-”

“Fourteen, yes. Fifteen when I gave birth.”

“I- I just-” Sebastian let out a shaky breath as the blood rushed to his head, pounding rapid in his ears. “I'm going to need a second.”

Blaine squirmed, regarding Sebastian carefully, as Claret started to nervously play with her napkin, tearing it piece by piece as an attempt to distract herself.

Sebastian swallowed, trying to fend off the energy that was radiating through his bones. The energy telling him to go and fucking find who ever the fuck did this to his sister and beat the living shit out of them. To gather every ounce of pain and hurt he'd suffered in his entire life and just let it all out until this guy was beaten into a bloody pulp.

“Bas, are you-”

“Just- B, just don't. I need a minute. Please.” Sebastian bit out, eyes set right on Claret, who was beginning to unravel. As soon as he saw his sister begin to tremble, though, the white hot rage was torn right from him, replacing it with guilt and concern.

It was then that he realised he was gripping his sister a little too tight. He let go, and Claret's eyes snapped up to his, full of anguish. “Seb,” She choked. “Please don't leave.”

“I'm not-” He sighed, taking her hand again, gentler this time. The relief that fell over his sister's face caused a sharp stab in his gut, because he really didn't mean to make her feel insecure about it. “I'm not going to leave. But I need to know, Claret. How did this happen? Did he-”

“No!” Claret cut in, sensing Sebastian's tone. “No. It was consensual. He was fifteen – we were both- yeah. It was stupid.”

“Did he-” Blaine started, glancing at Sebastian as though seeking permission to ask something. Sebastian nodded, “Did he stick around?”

Claret shook her head with a sigh. “As soon as I told him I was pregnant, he accused me of cheating on him. Said it wasn't his.”

“Fuck,” Sebastian snarled. “I'll kill him.”

Claret's breath shook with a puff of laughter, fixing her brother with a small smile. “It doesn't matter. We're better off without him. We have a good life.”

Then, something occurred to Sebastian. Something that should have came to his mind a lot earlier in the conversation, if he was honest. “It's just the two of you?”

“Yes,” Claret replied, eyes searching Sebastian for what he wasn't saying.

“So Aunt Marie...”

At that, Claret let out a snort. “As soon as she found out I was carrying a child, she threw me out on the street. I lived rough for a few weeks, until Jean Paul found me. He took me in, got me set up in the cafe, helped me find a home for Adeline and I. I owe him my life.”

Sebastian suddenly felt a surge of warmth towards the older waiter, who was currently on the other side of the room, serving some other customers – a family. But he couldn't help but wonder.

“Did he ever tell you why?”

“He did. He lost his daughter a while back, and he said I reminded him of her, and he just couldn't stand by and watch me suffer.” She watched the waiter fondly, eyes twinking. “I don't know what I would have done without him.” And then, turning back to Sebastian. “You're not mad?”

“I-” Sebastian took a second to consider himself. “I'm not exactly _happy_ about it, but of course I'm not mad. I was never mad at _you_.” He left the fact that he wanted to snap the father in half out of it.

Pulling a black leather wallet from her pocket, Claret handed it over to Sebastian wordlessly, who unfolded it to see two pictures.

One picture he recognised – it had been taken at their old home, by their mother. That summer Sebastian and his father had decided to fix a tire swing to the massive hardwood tree in their back yard. In the picture, a 7-year-old Claret was gleefully giggling as Sebastian stood behind her, pushing her on the swing with an adoring expression on his face.

He felt a pang for all that they had lost. Not only their mother, but their father, too. Of course, no one could excuse the shit that his father had pulled since the accident, but back then his father had been gentle and kind. He ran his thumb over the photo with a sad smile on his face.

Then, he turned his attention to the other one. The girl in the picture looked just like Claret did as a two year old – all chubby cheeks and thick blonde hair. The only difference, really, was the bright blue eyes staring back at him. Suddenly, any resentment that he'd felt towards the situation melted.

“She's beautiful.”

“Can I see?” Blaine asked.

“Here,” Sebastian said, passing the wallet to Blaine.

“Holy shit,” Blaine chortled. “Is that _you_? Oh my god, Bas, you were adorable.”

“Shut up, B.”

Blaine turned his smile to Claret, handing the wallet back. “She really is beautiful.”

Claret seemed much more relaxed now, positively beaming at the two men. “Thanks. And on that note, I actually have to go pick her up from after-care.” She paused, glancing at Sebastian. “But- I'd like to- would you like to meet her? I keep promising her a trip to Disneyland, and I have a day free on Sunday.”

Being the complete nerd that he was, Blaine perked up in his seat, but Sebastian raised his eyebrow. “Isn't she a bit young?”

“For the rides, sure. But she loves to meet the characters. Especially the princesses.” Claret replied, the smile on her lips screaming out 'doting mother' for all to see.

“We'll be there. Right, B?”

“Disneyland? Damn right we will. I want to meet Flynn Rider!”

“Blaine, I swear to god, if you leave me for a Disney prince, I'll never forgive you.”

“Says the guy with the Disney prince haircut.” Blaine replied, ruffling Sebastian's hair lightly, earning a narrow-eyed glare from Sebastian in return.

“Like I've said. Numerous times. You're both sickeningly sweet, and I need to get away from you, like right now before I get a cavity.” Claret replied, rising to her feet.

After exchanging phone numbers, they said their goodbyes, Sebastian maybe holding onto his sister a little tighter than he needed to during their goodbye hug, before she turned to Blaine, patting him softly on the cheek, sending him a wink, and walking towards the door before pointedly turning to glance at his ass, causing Sebastian to let out a soft chuckle.

When Blaine turned to see what he was laughing at, he flushed.

“Oh, I swear to god – if I knew there was two of you, I'd never have come here in the first place. You're hard enough to handle on your own.”

“You don't mean that killer.”

Blaine smiled, planting a soft kiss on Sebastian's lips. “No, no I don't. Do you still want to go dancing?”

Glancing at the bags under the table, Sebastian sighed. “It's been kind of a tiring day. Do you mind if we just go back to the hotel and... lie in bed?”

“Do you mean 'snuggle'?” Blaine teased.

“Ugh, no need to be so _gay_ about it.”

“You think you're so funny, don't you?”

“I'm hilarious.”

After making sure they left their waiter one hell of a tip, Sebastian left the restaurant with Blaine hand-in-hand, his heart lighter than it had been in years.

 


	19. Today and Every Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it's safe to say these last few chapters will be a little longer than usual. Enjoy some fluff! (Or, well, er... mostly fluff.)
> 
> TWO CHAPTERS TO GO, GUYS! Thanks, as ever, for your support.

Sebastian figured he would probably lie in Blaine's arms forever if it were practical. They were like his own personal comfort blanket.

They were pressed together, skin-on-skin, clothes haven been discarded as soon as they got into the hotel and stumbled into bed together. Right now, though, there was nothing sexual about it. Of course, it may have been something to do with the fact that they had already made love (yes, even Sebastian couldn't deny that that was what they had done – it was slow, passionate and sickeningly sweet) as soon as they entered their room.

He needed this, though, after the emotional day. He needed Blaine beside him, warm and solid against him. Blaine was holding him closely, fingers threading gently through his hair, Sebastian's face buried in his neck.

“Hey, Bas?”

“Yeah, B?”

Sebastian raised his eyes to look at Blaine, who was biting down on his bottom lip nervously. He watched until Blaine was ready to spill what was on his mind, not wanting to push.

“Do you ever miss it?”

Sebastian huffed. “You're going to have to be more specific, killer.”

“The sex. Do you miss hooking up with people?”

He could tell Blaine was uncomfortable breaching the topic – his forehead was creased with worry, and his eyes were slightly averted.

Bringing his palm to stroke Blaine's cheek gently, quickly running his fingers through his curls and placing a soft, loving kiss to his lips, Sebastian waited until Blaine's eyes were back on his again.

“First of all, I still have 'the sex',” Sebastian teased with a smirk, “And it's the best sex I've ever had in my entire life. So why would I choose to downgrade back to meaningless hookups? Second,” Sebastian trailed the palm of his hand down Blaine's chest, “You do realise that I used meaningless sex as a coping mechanism, right?”

With a sigh, Blaine moved his own free hand to meet Sebastian's on his chest, closing his fingers around it and closing his eyes. “It's just... sometimes I get scared, you know? That this isn't real. I mean- after everything we've been through together, I feel like I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it terrifies me.”

“I get scared too,” Sebastian confessed, watching Blaine closely. Their noses were almost touching, and he could feel Blaine's soft puffs of breath against his lips, Blaine's hand gripped into his own. “I mean, I still can't believe I get to have this – to have _you_.”

Lowering his voice to an almost-whisper, Sebastian concentrated heavily on keeping his voice steady for his next confession - “When you proposed to Kurt, I thought it was over. I... handled it badly. Which, judging by your face, Berry has already informed you.”

Blaine looked somewhat guilty. “She asked me not to say anything. I was worried that you didn't want to be with me, and Rachel pretty much laughed in my face and called me an idiot.”

Sebastian hummed against Blaine's lips, tasting him for a few seconds, tangling their legs together so that he could consume as much of his warmth as possible. “Remind me to thank her. And – I can't believe I'm about to say this, but – remind me to thank Hummel, too. Seems like the wonder twins are good for something, hm?”

“I still can't believe that in the end, it was my ex boyfriend that made us have the talk.” Raising his eyes to meet Sebastian's again, Blaine smiled. “I messaged him to thank him that night, you know. After we-” Blaine snorted. “After we made love. ”

“Ugh, gay.” Sebastian replied, twisting his face into one of disgust – because seriously, how had this man managed to turn him into such a sap?

Blaine just chuckled though. “I told him about Paris. Apparently he spat out his drink.”

And this- this was the perfect opening, for Sebastian to find out once and for all if he and Blaine were in the same place.

“Do you think-” Sebastian exhaled slowly through his nose, chest tightened. “Do you think we're moving too fast?”

 _Fuck_ , his heart felt like it was in his throat, pounding rapidly. He thought, again, about his purchase earlier that day – how he'd reasoned that he didn't have to propose straight away – but who was he kidding? He'd waited long enough for Blaine – did he really want to delay the inevitable for the sake of convention?

Blaine's eyes widened, though, slightly panicked. “Why- do you?”

“No!” Sebastian replied, a little too enthusiastically. “I just- I love you. So fucking much. And we've only been together for over two weeks, and I... I just can't bare to lose you, B.”

Blaine's breathing steadied, and his eyes softened. “As far as I'm concerned, this has been a long time coming. Let's face it, Bas - while our relationship is new, these feelings have been around for years. If anything, we're moving too slow.”

Blaine was half joking – Sebastian knew he was. Nevertheless, he rubbed his nose softly against Blaine's, coming to a decision. “Stay there.”

“What?”

“Just- stay there.”

With that, Sebastian rose from the bed, leaving behind a perplexed Blaine in favour of finding his jacket, digging through the pockets. Blaine watched him, slightly apprehensive.

His fingers closed around the box, and he grinned, turning back to Blaine. “Close your eyes.”

“Uhm, okay.” Blaine replied, before following his instruction.

And shit, he was really going to do this right now, wasn't he? Trying to steady his shaking hands, he pulled the box from his pocket, making his way back over to the bed, perching cross-legged beside Blaine, the box a heavy weight in his hand.

Closing his eyes, he took a moment to gather himself – his heart was thundering in his chest, his palms sweaty, and god, what if this was the wrong decision? What if Blaine said no?

Nevertheless, Sebastian Smythe did _not_ back down.

“Sit up.”

Eyes still closed, Blaine complied, perching himself in front of Sebastian, expression of absolute bewilderment.

“Open them.”

Blaine opened his eyes slowly, taking in a sharp gasp at the box in Sebastian's quivering hands. “Bas...” He whispered softly.

“I know it's not- it's not a huge musical number, or a romantic speech in front of all of your friends, or some huge gesture, but I- I kind of wanted this one to be different. Blaine, there is _no one_ on this planet that I have ever felt this way about, and I realise it might be a bit soon, but I've loved you for years, and it just grows stronger and stronger each day that I get to spend with you.” With his trembling hands, he opened the box, watching Blaine's eyes widen. “I understand if you want to say no, and I can put this away, and nothing has to change because I'm happy with things as they are, but-”

He was cut off with Blaine's lips pressing down on him hard, swallowing the rest of his words. His eyes fluttered closed, feeling Blaine's tongue as it caressed against his own in a deep, passionate lock, Blaine's fingers threading into his hair. Once they parted, he could see that Blaine was smiling with contentment. “Sorry, I just- I couldn't resist. Please, continue.”

Sebastian let out a small puff of laughter, chest slightly lighter now. Blaine hadn't run in the opposite direction, at least. That was all the encouragement he needed.

“Blaine Anderson, will you-”

“Yes.”

His heart positively soaring now, Sebastian couldn't help the elation pouring through him, because  _holy fuck he said yes_ . 

“Let me finish, you idiot.” He said, feigning calm.

Blaine snorted. “Sorry.”

“Will you-”

“Yes.”

There it was again. The most beautiful word in the history of anything ever.

“Blaine!” Sebastian whined, smacking him lightly on the side.

“Sorry, sorry!” Blaine giggled, hands held up in surrender. “I'm sorry.”

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes!”

 

-

 

“You're joking, right?”

“Tina-”

“Blaine. Come on! It's been two weeks. Two weeks, and you're engaged? To the guy that-”

“Okay, you know what?” Blaine snarled into the receiver, cutting his friend off. “I'm seriously getting sick of everyone attacking my relationship. It's soon. I know it's fucking soon, but Tina, it's not like I just _met_ the guy two weeks ago.”

He heard Tina let out a tired sigh down the line. “Blaine, I just- I just feel like you're running away from your feelings from Kurt, and running straight into the arms of the worst person imaginable.”

“Okay, Tina. I need you to be quiet for just two minutes, okay? Two minutes, so that I can say everything I need to say without getting interrupted, and I promise you that I will listen to whatever you have to say afterwards, okay?”

Tina huffed, but consented anyway. “Fine.”

Blaine took a deep breath before continuing.

“I love him, T. I need you to accept that, because we're together now, and that's not going to change, and I really don't want to lose you. I don't need you to be his best friend, or have sleepovers and braid each other's hair, I just need you to _please_ give him a chance. That's all I'm asking.”

“But-” Tina butted in, extracting an eye roll from Blaine.

“Tina, _please_ just let me get through this,” he pleaded.

“Sorry.” Tina replied, actually sounding genuine.

“I know you're just worried – and with good reason, because if you think I've forgotten about all the stuff that happened between Sebastian and the New Directions, you're wrong. Sebastian hasn't forgotten either, T. I've forgiven him, but he hasn't forgiven _himself_. And yeah, we've only been together for over two weeks, and we went to Paris together and we're engaged, and I can understand how that looks from the outside – but you have no idea what we've been through to get here. It feels like a fucking lifetime and we're both sick of waiting for each other.”

Okay, he wasn't going to spill Sebastian's tragic story to Tina. It wasn't his story to tell, so he changed tracks.

“You can have your opinions about this – and I can disagree with them, because really, the only opinions I care for regarding my relationship is my own, and Sebastian's, and I just- Tina, you're one of my best friends, and I would really love your support right now, or at least your acceptance. I miss you.”  
The silence was tense – almost deafening. Blaine picked at the thread on his sweater absently, biting down on his bottom lip, waiting for Tina to reply.

His heart lightened at the soft breath Tina let out, followed by “I miss you, too.”

He couldn't help the small tug of his lips. “So, you'll give him a chance?”

Tina groaned. “You're lucky I love you, Blainykins. But if he thinks for one second he's going to steal you away from me, he's got another thing coming.”

Blaine snickered. “Deal.” And then, “Thank you, T.”

“Seriously, though, Blaine. I'm still not completely sold on this, and you have to understand that. I'll try. I'll try for your sake, not for Sebastian's.”

Even though he knew his friend couldn't see him, Blaine nodded, because that was all he was asking for, really. He couldn't expect Tina to understand right away – but he found himself hoping that his fiancée could win his way into Tina's heart. He certainly had the charm for it.

 _Fiancée_. Blaine smiled to himself. Things really did work out in strange ways, didn't they?

 

-

 

“Fucking hell, dude! That's insane.”

“Good insane, or bad insane?”

“I don't- I don't know yet?” Sam just sounded genuinely confused.

“Tina wasn't happy.”

“You told her before you told me?” He could practically hear his friend's scowl.

Blaine snorted, “Jealousy isn't a good look on you.”

“You can't see me. Jealousy could look amazing on me and you'll never know.”

Rolling his eyes, Blaine huffed. “Okay. Well, Tina was already pissed at me because I kind of left her out the loop. Figured she deserved to know first.”

“What are you going to tell your parents?”

At that, Blaine frowned, because he honestly had no idea. “They don't even know I'm in Paris.”

The thing was, while his parents were usually civil and supported his decisions, his family were never the best conversationalists. He often went weeks without talking to his parents, so he wouldn't be surprised if they had no idea that Blaine had left America over two weeks ago.

He could only imagine their surprise (and most likely, disappointment) if he called them to inform them that not only was he in Paris, he was engaged to a guy they'd never met. Oh, sure, they'd heard of him. Because, fuck, the doctors asked questions when he had to get eye surgery. How he was going to explain that one, he had no idea.

God, his father was probably still hoping that Blaine had used all this time being single to figure out that he was actually straight. The thing was, it wasn't like he had the worst parents in the world – fuck, that prize probably went to Sebastian, but that didn't mean that they didn't start treating him differently after he came out.

You would think that they'd had time to accept that their son was gay and move on, but no – things had never been the same in Blaine's household since they found out. Not that he dared to bring that up with Sebastian, because... well, it was like comparing a mountain with a molehill, really.

“I think I'll maybe wait a while – try to break them in gently.”

“Probably the best idea,” Sam concurred.

Maybe he would tell Coop first.

 

-

 

_**Sebastian:** I did it._

_**Claret:** Seb, I swear to god, if you're texting me at 2am to tell me about your sexcapades with Blaine, I'm blocking your number._

Holy shit, was that the time? Sebastian felt a surge of guilt.

_**Sebastian:** I didn't wake you, did I?_

_**Claret:** No. Addie had a nightmare, and she woke me up. I've been sitting with her for the past hour trying to calm her down, but I managed to get her back to sleep five minutes ago._

A picture message followed. Sebastian swiped it open to witness the adorableness that was his two year old niece curled up in the arms of his sister on a couch, arms tightened around a soft bunny plushie, eyes scrunched tight and lips slightly parted.

The warm glow that the picture gave him was surprising. Of course, Addie was his niece, and Sebastian knew he was going to love her with all of his heart – but god, he was aching to meet her already. Sunday really couldn't come fast enough.

He really was getting way too soft for his own good.

_**Sebastian:** Eww, she's drooling on you. I have something to show you, too._

Swiping through his photo gallery, Sebastian selected the picture that he'd snapped shortly after the proposal – his and Blaine's hands intertwined, ring clearly on display.

_**Claret:** Holy shit!! You did it! Congrats! _

_**Sebastian:** Thanks. _

_**Claret:** Seriously, Seb. I'm so happy for you guys. You both deserve it after everything. _

God, he loved his sister. How he had gone so long without her, he had no idea.

He sank back into the pillows, still staring at his phone with a dumb smirk on his face as Blaine joined him again, the bed dipping as he slid under the sheets, placing his cell on the table beside him.

“How did they take it?” Sebastian asked.

“Sam was confused, but he seems happy for us. Tina's... well, she wasn't exactly happy about it, but she's coming around. She said she'll give you a chance.”

“Lucky me,” Sebastian snorted. Blaine prodded his side playfully, causing him to jolt.

Blaine blinked. “You're ticklish.”

“I am not.”

“Oh, really? Because-” He prodded Sebastian's side again, and Sebastian was deeply ashamed of the loud squeak that escaped his lips, but it caused Blaine to lick his lips, fixing Sebastian with a predatory grin.

“Blaine, I swear to god-”

Suddenly, Blaine pounced, but hit the mattress with a soft  _ thump  _ as Sebastian narrowly avoided him by sliding out of the bed, backing away slowly, hands held out in front of him in a defensive stance.

He really wished he'd taken some time to at least put a shirt on, so that he wasn't exposed – all naked flesh on display for Blaine to attack. 

“Baaas,” Blaine huffed, reaching out to him, making grabby hands. “Come back to bed. This is no way to treat your future husband.”

“Don't think so, killer.” He wasn't falling for that. He could still see the smirk that Blaine was clearly trying to hide underneath the sheets.

Suddenly, Blaine was skidding out of the bed, and Sebastian shrieked, Blaine chasing him while cackling maniacally. He grasped onto his leg, causing Sebastian to lose his balance as he toppled over onto the rug. He landed with a soft _thud._

“Ow.”

“Fuck, Bas. Are you okay?”

Sebastian groaned, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. “I surrender.”

Blaine giggled, kneeling down beside Sebastian, before crawling over him, straddling. Sebastian glanced up at his fiancée, who had managed to grasp onto Sebastian's wrists, pinning them just above his head.

“Hm,” Blaine grinned down at him, leering. “You look good like this.”

Which, fuck yes. He could get on board with this turn of events.

They made love for the second time that night – first time since they'd gotten engaged. It was raw, and rough, and passionate. Blaine had him pinned possessively, grunting all manners of sinful and delicious promises into Sebastian's ear as he thrust inside him, ravishing, Sebastian completely helpless to do anything but gasp and groan, legs hooked around Blaine's hips, letting out muffled soft sobs of elation into Blaine's neck as both men worked themselves to a climax in a burst of need and pleasure and white hot light.

They lay there tangled together in the afterglow, all slick and salty with sweat, Blaine still draped over him, panting into Sebastian's chest, their hearts beat together with hard rhythmic thuds, winding down slowly.

Through the euphoria, Sebastian wondered, as he often did, how this man was _his_. What did he ever do in his life to deserve someone as perfect as Blaine Anderson?

It certainly wasn't karma, that was for sure.

 

-

 

It was one thing to tell her brother that she would be at the gates for a certain time, and quite another to actually follow through with that promise.

Addie, of course, had been buzzing all morning – zooming around the house like a rocket, all excitement and wonder.

Of course, Claret had already informed her that she was meeting her uncle Sebastian today, but the two-year-old was far more interested in getting to see the princesses again.

“'Punzel, 'Punzel!” the child had squealed with elation, for what Claret had been sure was the millionth time that morning, wriggling her legs as Claret fought to wrestle her into her tights.

So it was no wonder that she found herself approaching the gates about half an hour late, a practically vibrating Addie clasping onto her hand.

Still, it didn't look like the newly engaged couple had noticed that she was late, she observed, watching the boys from afar. Idiots were far too wrapped up in one another to notice anything else – Blaine on his tiptoes, hands clasped together behind Sebastian's neck, head inclined, and Sebastian gazing down at him with an expression that Claret could only describe as complete adoring infatuation.

God, they were sickening.

“Mama, 'Punzel!” Addie whined, free hand pointing towards the gate.

Claret smiled down at her daughter. “You need to say hi to uncle Seb first, baby.”

Addie nodded, eyes sweeping through the crowd, and Claret giggled as they approached the boys.

It was then that Sebastian seemed to come out from the spell that Blaine seemed to have him under, glancing up from his fiancée's eyes to grin at her, then his gaze set firmly on his niece with wonder.

For a few seconds, they had reached stalemate. Sebastian was frozen to the spot, and Addie was staring at him, wide-eyed, shifting her small frame to behind Claret's legs and peeking out at the side, still grasping tight onto Claret's hand.

The freeze was broken, though, as Blaine gave Sebastian a soft shove towards them, a wide grin on his face.

“Hi,” Sebastian smiled softly, perching down on one knee to meet Addie's height, arm balancing on his thigh.

Addie glanced up at Claret, a little unsure, but she just gave her daughter an encouraging smile.

The thing was, sometimes Addie was a little cautious of strangers – rightfully so, of course – but she sent Sebastian a small wave anyway, shy smile buried into Claret's leg.

Sebastian just chuckled though, rising to his feet again. “We got the tickets already.” Then, glancing back down to Addie. “Are you ready to go meet the princesses?”

At that, Addie seemed to warm instantly, grinning widely at Sebastian and ducking out from her hiding place. “'Punzel!”

“I bet you can't guess who her favourite princess is,” Claret snorted.

“Looks like we're getting to meet Flynn Rider after all, huh, Bas?” Blaine teased playfully. “Hey, I wonder if he wants to marry me too.”

“Nooo,” Addie whined. “He marry 'Punzel!” She shot Blaine a glare, to which Sebastian let out a loud bark of laughter, causing several people to stop and stare at them.

“I love her already.” Seb beamed, as Addie watched the group of adults with an adorable head tilt.

Oh, yes. This was going to be fun.

 

-

 

They were about halfway through their day out, Sebastian and Blaine having been on Space Mountain and Pirates of the Carribean already, and Addie vehemently searching for Rapunzel to no avail, when they decided to stop for lunch.

“I swear, the prices in this place just get higher and higher each time.”

“Good thing daddy dearest is paying, hm?” Sebastian snorted, waving the credit card at his sister.

“It's a wonder your dad hasn't even checked the accounts for that card yet.”

“Oh, I have no doubt that he has,” Sebastian muttered. “He's definitely up to something.”

“Are you sure that spending his money is wise, then?” Claret asked, digging into her fries with her hands and shovelling them into her mouth. “Mm- to be fair, they might be expensive, but they _are_ delicious,” she added.

Sebastian snorted. “Chew then swallow, dear sister. You're going to end up choking. I don't think Blaine and I are quite ready to raise a two-year-old yet.” He winked at Addie, who just stared back at him blankly.

“Oh, but you're ready to get married?” She teased.

“Absolutely.” Sebastian replied, beaming at Blaine and grasping onto his hand, feeling the ring solid against his flesh. “It'll just be the two of us. We have a lot of years to make up for, after all. Can't have a child being around while we do that.”

“I'm pretty sure we've already made up for a good part of them over the last couple of weeks.”

“Think of what we can achieve on the run up to the wedding.”

“Baaas,” Blaine whined, glancing pointedly at Addie.

“What? She doesn't know what we're talking about, do you, Addie?”

Addie squinted at Sebastian as though he were a very interesting exhibit at an art show that she couldn't quite figure out the message of.

Claret laughed, throwing a fry at Sebastian's face, hitting him square on the nose. His nose scrunched at the impact, then settled as he glared at his sister in return.

“Claret's right, though, Bas. If you think your dad's up to something, should we maybe stop using his card?”

“Please. What's he going to do? He's probably just trying to keep an eye on me, and it's not as if I'm spending the cash on anything that he can use against me. Besides, I don't have any money of my own.”

Which was a good point, really. He'd already agreed with Blaine that they'd be returning to Ohio by the end of the following week, and Sebastian really didn't want to keep using his father's money. He had to get a job of some sort... and maybe decide if he wanted to apply for college. Fuck, he had no idea what he was going to do with his life, now that he started thinking about it.

“Bas,” Blaine said, waving his hand in his face, breaking him out of his reverie.

“Yeah, killer?”

“Where did you go? We lost you for a minute there.”

“I- I was just thinking. About college. You're applying for next year, right?”

Blaine nodded.

“I think- I think I might want to, too.”

Blaine smiled at him, eyes crinkling, squeezing his hand lightly. “That's great, baby. What do you want to do?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I don't know. I kind of- I miss singing, you know? Performing.”

“You always were a great singer,” Claret agreed. “And dancer. God, I can barely walk in a straight line, and Seb here was prancing around the entire house by the time he learned to walk on two legs.”

“You weren't even born then!” Sebastian said with a soft huff, earning him an eye roll from Claret.

“You're amazing, Bas.” Blaine cut in. Then, turning to Claret, “He really is. Captivates me every time he performs. Which... I haven't seen in a long time.”

“I was always so jealous when I was younger. I wanted to learn to tap, but my feet just ended up getting tangled, and there was my big brother, bold as ever, pulling out some of the most complicated steps I'd ever seen in my life. Mother was always so proud.”

Blaine balked. “You can _tap_?”

“God, you mean you haven't seen him tap yet? Our dance teacher always said he was a prodigy.” Claret said, raising an eyebrow at Blaine.

“I- I've only ever seen him perform at show choir competitions,” Blaine admitted, turning to Sebastian. “I didn't know-”

“Yeah,” Sebastian huffed a humourless laugh. “That's because my father decided that tap dancing was too feminine. Show choir he could just about tolerate, and that was only because I'd agreed to join the lacrosse team, too. But any dancing I did was limited to what you saw. He didn't even know about _that_ dancing, to be fair. He never bothered to show up.”

Claret pursed her lips angrily, but didn't say anything, and he felt Blaine squeeze his thigh softly under the table. “We'll fix that, Bas. You can start it up again when we get home. I- I'd really like to see it.”

Sebastian sent his fiancée an appreciative smile. “I think I'd like that.”

 

-

 

“'Punzel! Punzel!” Addie squealed, bouncing on her toes, thrusting her fingers in the direction of the princess with sheer enthusiasm.

“Breathe, kiddo.” Sebastian chortled as Addie tugged on the legs of his pants. “Okay, okay, come on. Let's go meet Rapunzel.”

He held his hand out to the kid, who grasped onto it tight, beaming up at him like the ball of sunshine that she was, causing Sebastian to feel a sudden surge of warmth in his chest.

Sebastian was yanked towards the princess without further ado, Blaine and Claret trailing along behind them, watching them fondly.

“Well, aren't we excited?” The princess giggled, crouching down to smile at Addie, who apparently had suddenly decided to become shy again, hiding behind Sebastian's legs, chewing down on her bottom lip nervously.

Sebastian chuckled. “She's just nervous. Say hi to Rapunzel, Addie.”

“Hi 'Punzel.” Addie mumbled, her cheeks tinged with redness.

“Hi, sweetie. Would you like to take a photograph with me? You know, I do prefer to paint, but I don't think we have time for a portrait, but if your daddy has his camera-”

“Uncle,” Sebastian interrupted, nodding his head towards Claret, who was standing watching them beside Blaine at a distance. “That's her mother over there.”

“Ohh, I'm guessing the man beside her is her father then?”

Sebastian grinned. “Nope. That one's _my_ fiancée,” he stated proudly, because apparently he was intent on telling _everyone_. “Though, she has tried to win his affections a lot over the past week, but she's not his, ah, type.”

Rapunzel blinked, slightly taken aback for a second. However, she seemed to gather himself, fixing him with a wide grin. “My apologies. He's very handsome. Congratulations.”

“Uncle Blaine wants to steal Flinn,” Addie piped up, because apparently she was a little shit stirrer. A girl after Sebastian's heart.

This extracted another giggle from the princess, though, who sent a playful glare at Blaine. “Well, I don't like to share. Well, that's not true. I do like to share my powers with people if they get hurt.”

“Mama kisses pain better.” Addie said.

Rapunzel nodded. “Well, it sounds like your mama has special powers, too.”

Noticing that other children were starting to swarm around them, Sebastian ruffled Addie's hair softly. “Okay, kiddo, time to get that picture. The other boys and girls want to say hello to Rapunzel too.”

“I'll take it!” Blaine volunteered, shoving Sebastian towards the two girls. Fuck, Sebastian hadn't even seen him approach them. “Family photo. Claret should be in it, too.”

“Just make sure you get my good side, sweet stuff.”

“As if you have a bad side,” Blaine winked.

The photo, as it turned out, was adorable as far as Sebastian was concerned. At one side of the frame stood Sebastian, arm draped over his sister's shoulder, who was grinning widely at the camera. At the other side, Rapunzel and an over-excited Addie, who was gripping onto the princess's hand, lips stretched out in a wide, enthusiastic grin.

Once the picture was done and they said their goodbyes to Rapunzel, thanking her politely, they moved out of the way so that the other kids could get their turn.

 

-

 

They were on their way to the parade, when Sebastian stopped to tie his shoelace, telling the group to walk on, and that he would catch up.

“Honestly, parents get younger and younger these days,” Sebastian heard a guy scoff.

Sebastian paused in his tracks, Blaine, Addie, and Claret walking on, not seeming to have heard the disruption.

“She's a single mother, too. I think those two boys are a couple.”

He couldn't help the twist in his gut as he listened to the couple. They seemed to be in their mid forties – one man and one woman, and beside them sat what Sebastian assumed was their teenage daughter, who seemed to be a little taken aback.

“Fucking typical. Girls like that need to struggle with single motherhood while men are hooking up with other men. What has the world come to? What happened to family values?” the guy sneered.

“I think it's sweet,” their teenage daughter piped up.

“That's because you don't know any better, honey,” the older woman replied, slightly patronising.

“Actually, your daughter seems to be the only one of you that has a clue.” Sebastian corrected her, butting into their conversation. The couple looked up at him, startled.

“You might want to mind your own business, son,” the man warned.

“Oh yeah? You might want to take your own advice, Gramps, because my sister's personal life and my sexual orientation have absolutely nothing to do with you or your wife.”

Not giving the couple a chance to retort, Sebastian whirled around, leaving behind two pissed off looking parents and one comically smug looking teenage girl.

“What was that about?” Blaine asked, as Sebastian re-joined the group.

Sebastian shook his head, not wanting to upset his sister with the guy's judgements about her ability to be a mother. From what Sebastian had seen, she was doing just fine on her own. “Doesn't matter. Come on, I want to head over to the Studios next. I heard the Aerosmith coaster is fantastic.”

He did make sure to pointedly lean in and press his lips to Blaine's though, before looking straight back at the couple, sending them a wink and a smirk. The adults looked furious, but the girl was hunched over in what seemed like uncontrollable laughter.

 

-

 

Before they knew it, it was approaching closing time, and a sleeping Addie was being carried in Sebastian's arms, head wilting over his shoulder, arms wrapped loosely around his neck.

“So you're going hone next week?” Claret asked as they made their way past the gates and towards the car park.

“Yeah.” Sebastian sighed, glancing at his sister. “You could come with us, you know.”

Claret didn't look at all surprised at the request, but she smiled back at him sadly. “Maybe one day. My life is here right now. Still, I'll definitely be over for your wedding.”

Sebastian snorted. “Who said you were invited?”

“Pft, please. I'll be the one standing making the objections. Blaine will love me in the end. You'll see.”

“Oh, yes. I can feel myself turning straight already. I'm cured! Sorry, Bas,” Blaine chuckled. “But hey, at least I'm keeping it in the family.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes fondly as Claret opened the car, moving to the side so that Sebastian could gently lower his niece down into her seat without waking her, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead with a soft smile.

Claret placed a soft kiss onto her brother's cheek, pulling Sebastian and Blaine in for hugs. “Since you're going to be in the country for another week or so, I can try to get a day free so that we can go to dinner or something. Plus, I can drive you both to the airport.”

Claret had offered to drive them back to their hotel earlier that day, but the metro pretty much took them straight to their hotel anyway, and it _was_ a little out the way, so Sebastian and Blaine had politely declined her offer, opting to just use their return tickets.

Still, it would be nice to have someone wave them off at the airport.

“Okay. Call me when you get home.” Sebastian squeezed her shoulder gently, then Claret lowered herself into the car, closing the door behind her with a soft _slam_. After glancing to make sure that the noise hadn't woken Addie, she waved to the couple before maneuvering her way out of the parking space.

“You're an uncle.” Blaine grinned at Sebastian.

“Yeah, well I- we've known that for a few days now, killer.”

“Yeah, I know. But you have to admit – today has made it... well, real.”

Sebastian grunted in assent, pulling Blaine into him with his arm around his shoulders. “Come on, let's go sleep. Children are tiring.”

“You were good with her though. You'd make a great father.”

Blaine looked slightly nervous at that, to which Sebastian huffed in amusement, because, really? “You would, too. Maybe we can explore that one day.”

“One day,” Blaine agreed, leaning up to brush his lips on Sebastian's cheek.

 

-

 

The week went by in a blur, really, in a mix of tourist crap and relaxing with Blaine in their hotel room, because some days they really just needed to wind down.

Unfortunately, due to his sister's work schedule, they only got the chance to meet up with Claret and Addie one more time – it was a sunny day, so they had taken a trip around Jardin du Luxembourg, in which Addie insisted they all got their face painted.

The young girl that was doing the painting had looked rather worried when she had been approached by three adults – Claret asking for a butterfly on her cheek, and Blaine and Sebastian opting for rainbow flags (because, yeah, pride and all that). Addie had decided to get her whole face done in the style of a tiger which, by the end of the day, ended up smudged everywhere on her face, and had managed to migrate all over her clothes (and Sebastian's, since he'd made the mistake of picking her up).

Sunday came before they knew it, though, and Sebastian was squeezing a tearful Claret in his arms. He found himself thankful that Addie was being babysat by Pierre, because he didn't think he could have handled saying goodbye to them both. This was painful enough.

Still, at least this time they had each other, right?

She moved onto Blaine, drawing him in for a tight hug, murmuring, “Take care of my brother, Frodo,” to which Blaine snorted, squeezing her back.

“I will,” he replied. “Always. I promise.”

 

-

 

The flight had gone in pretty fast. Of course, they had slept through most of it, considering that it had been a pretty tiring and emotional trip for both of them. By the time Sebastian woke up, Blaine drooling on his shoulder, food was being served.

He nudged Blaine awake, who snorted, before jolting upwards.

“Graceful as ever, B,” Sebastian grinned smugly.

“Ughh, what do you want?” he replied, ruffled.

“Food is being served.”

“Oh. Well you're forgiven, then.”

“Oh, good, I was worried there for a minute.”

 

-

 

In hindsight, Sebastian should have known that everything was going far too well.

After collecting their suitcases from the carousel, they began making their way through customs before they were stopped by one of the guards.

“Sebastian Smythe? Blaine Anderson?”

Blaine blinked, glancing to Sebastian, who was equally confused.

“Uhm. Yes?” Blaine replied, apprehensive.

“You need to come this way, please.”

“What's this about?” Sebastian asked abruptly, because fucking seriously, they'd only been on the ground for about fifteen minutes and they were already facing problems? Fuck Ohio.

“We'll explain once we get to a more private area, sir. Come this way, please,” the guard repeated, motioning for the boys to follow him.

He led them to a small office, opening the door for them to step inside. Sebastian froze at the figure sitting in the room beside two police officers – one female, one male. A chill ran down his spine, and his blood ran cold.

“Dad,” he choked.

“Hello, Sebastian.” His father had the nerve to nod in greeting.

“I- I don't,” Sebastian looked at the guard with pleading eyes. “I don't want to be in the same room as him. Please.”

It was then that the police officers moved forward. Sebastian flinched, but instead of reaching for him, they were reaching for Blaine.

“Wait- what--?” Sebastian yelped.

“Blaine Anderson, you are under arrest,” the female officer said, pulling Blaine's arms behind his back.

“But I- I didn't--” Blaine spluttered, eyes wide with panic.

“You have the right to remain silent--”

“What the fuck is going on?” Sebastian spat out, whirling to his father. The female officer just scowled at Sebastian, as though she were the one being inconvenienced here.

“Well, son, your, ah- friend, here,”

“Fiancee,” Sebastian corrected, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. “And don't you _dare_ call me _son_.”

“Your _friend_ is under arrest for breaking and entering, as well as credit card fraud.”

“No, you can't- I have your card, not him. Let him go.” Sebastian snarled, voice lowering.

“Ah, well, you see, as you are my son, I'm not charging you. You should consider yourself lucky.”

“Please,” Sebastian pleaded, turning to the female officer now. “You don't understand, he didn't--”

“--he will be dealt with at the station, Mr Smythe. I suggest you back off right now, before we detain you.”

“No!” Sebastian choked.

“Bas, just-- it'll be okay, just let them. I don't want you to get into trouble.”

“Blaine,” Sebastian sobbed, watching his fiancée being led away in handcuffs, unable to do anything about it.

“Well, I think we're about done here.”

Sebastian whirled to his father, fighting back the tears. “You won't get away with this. I'll make sure you rot in jail for what you've done, you piece of shit.”

“Now now, son, that's no way to talk to the man who raised you,” the security guard butted in.

“The man who raised me is an abusive asshole,” Sebastian retorted. “An abusive asshole who used violence to control his only son – who left his only daughter in the care of someone who was a neglectful bitch.” And then, to his dad; “Once I get Blaine out of this, I want you gone from my life for good. Don't _ever_ come near me again. Or my fiancée. Or my sister, for that matter.”

“Son--”

“No, don't call me that. You have no right.” Then, glaring at the security guard, “Can I go now?”

“I-- yes.”

Sebastian nodded coldly, sending one last glare at his dad, who was just watching him icily, arms crossed. Still, he didn't say anything else, so Sebastian considered it a small victory.

 

-

 

It had been kind of difficult to drag his own and Blaine's cases back to their apartment, but he got there in the end, albeit with a little help from the security guard in loading the cab. After Sebastian's tirade in the airport office, the guard at least seemed to feel somewhat guilty after hearing the small nugget of information Sebastian had blurted out in his anger.

He threw the keys unceremoniously on the couch, throwing open Blaine's hand luggage, and digging through it until his quivering hand settled on the small device at the bottom. Sighing in relief, Sebastian swiped the screen of the phone, swallowing his pride.

“ _Blaine?_ ” The voice at the end of the phone sounded extremely puzzled.

“Kurt,” Sebastian choked with despair.

A few seconds of tense silence went by, and then, _“What happened? Where is Blaine? Is he okay?”_

Sebastian gulped, attempting to calm himself. His hands were still shaking, and he was struggling to hold the phone still. “I-- I need your help.”

 


	20. Comfortably Numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an epilogue after this one, folks!

As soon as Blaine had been marched into the station, hands cuffed behind his back, he was led into a small room, completely bare if it weren't for the table and chairs in the middle – one chair on one side, and two on the other.

“Sit.” The female officer told him sternly, levelling him with a glare.

Blaine swallowed thickly, obeying instantly.

Oh god, he was fucked. He was _so fucked_.

There was no way to prove that Blaine was involved with the credit card, though (mostly because he wasn't). That, at least, was some small comfort to him. But the breaking and entering – well, that was all him. Still, he couldn't bring himself to regret it – not when Sebastian was safe and sound at their apartment.

 _Fuck_. He hoped Sebastian was safe and sound at their apartment. Who knows what his fiancée would do in attempt to help him out of this?

“I want my phone call,” Blaine demanded, as soon as another woman stepped inside – tall, dark-skinned, slightly plump. She sauntered towards him with an air of confidence, taking a seat opposite from him. She gave the other officer a nod, who inclined her head in return before exiting the room.

“Mr Anderson. I'm Sheriff Frey. I assume you know why you're here.”

A little scared to talk, Blaine just nodded in reply.

“Would you care to tell me why? I need to hear it in your own words, son.”

“Breaking and entering. Fraud.” Blaine replied. “But I--”

“Before you say anything, Mr Anderson, I need to inform you that you have the right to a lawyer, and you can make _one_ phone call. Just one. After we talk, you will be detained in a cell in this station until we decide what to do with you, which may be overnight, am I clear?”

“Crystal.” Blaine replied quietly, gazing down at his hands that were clasped on the table in front of him. “Can I make my phone call now?”

Sheriff Frey nodded at him, pushing a small black cordless device towards him. “You have two minutes.”

He waited for the woman to get up and leave – but of course, she just watched him, motioning for him to get on with it.

He sighed, punching in the number.

 

-

 

Sebastian couldn't breathe.

He was propped up against the wall in the apartment, forehead leaning against the cold surface, phone still gripped tight in his hand.

He barely even heard the soft tap at the door through the pounding of blood in his ears, but he moved shakily anyway, willing his legs to work properly. Eventually, though, he managed to open the door to reveal a distressed looking Kurt - Sam and Tina in tow.

“What the hell, Sebastian?” Kurt growled, fists clenched.

On a normal day, Sebastian might have retaliated with an insult, or defended himself, at least. But this was no normal day – everything had gone to shit, and Sebastian had absolutely no fight left in him. He felt completely drained. “Just come in. Please.”

Upon noticing the defeat laced in Sebastian's voice, Kurt seemed to loosen his posture a little, scowl on his face relaxing ever so slightly so that it was merely a frown.

Sebastian opened the door a little wider, allowing the three of them entry to the room, then he closed it with a soft _click._ He didn't move to face them, though – he just merely... stared at the door blankly. 

“Sebastian?” Sam asked warily.

After inhaling and exhaling slowly (which did nothing to slow his quickening pulse, nor calm his breathing), he turned towards the sound of Sam's voice. Sam was watching him carefully, expression full of empathy, while Kurt and Tina stood at either side of him, eyeing him suspiciously.

Sebastian sighed. “Look, I know that none of you have any reason to trust me, but we don't have time for angry staring contests. Please just sit down, Hummel, you look like you're about to have a seizure.”

To his credit, Kurt didn't bother coming up with a retort, opting instead to roll his eyes before flopping down onto the sofa, arms crossed. Tina followed suit in roughly the same manner, her eyes narrowed into slits in Sebastian's direction. Sam perched himself on the arm of the couch beside her with a much more open expression.

Sebastian swallowed, trying to ignore their judgemental stares – it wasn't like it was unwarranted, after all. This was _his_ fault. Blaine broke in to help _him_ – and the credit card? That was all Sebastian. Yes, he had bought stuff for Blaine with the card – the hotel room, food, their return flight home (which is why, Sebastian had no doubt, his father had managed to catch them as soon as they'd returned), but Blaine hadn't asked him to, or used the card himself. It was all Sebastian. 

And now, yet again, Blaine was suffering for Sebastian's mistake. 

Everyone was right. He really wasn't good enough for Blaine. He had no idea why he'd bothered fooling himself in the first place.

“Sebastian, you need to tell us what's going on,” Kurt bit out icily.

“Just give him a minute, dude. His fiancée's just been arrested – can't you see that he's in shock?” Sam piped up, and Tina sent him a soft slap to his side. “Ow! What was that for?!” he groaned.

“Fiancée?” Kurt asked, gritting his teeth.

“Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to-”

“It's really not important right now.” Sebastian cut in, bringing himself back into focus – because Sam was right, his fiancée had been arrested, and it was all his fault, and he really really needed to fucking concentrate on cleaning up his mess instead of moping around feeling sorry for himself. Blaine deserved at least _that_ from him. 

“You're right.” Kurt replied. Sebastian raised an eyebrow, and Tina pursed her lips. “What's important is that you got him arrested as soon as you touched ground. What the hell is going on, Sebastian?”

He swallowed. “He was arrested for credit card fraud, which- which wasn't him. It was my father's card, which was given to me to use in emergencies. I didn't think for one minute that he would use it against Blaine.”

“If it was you using the card, why weren't _you_ arrested?” Tina asked, a dangerous edge to her voice. It sounded rather like an accusation.

“Trust me, I wish I had been – this is all my fault. My father chose not to charge me. Apparently he felt that getting Blaine arrested was punishment enough.”

“But he has nothing to go on, right?” Sam asked. “I mean, if it was you using the card, and you had permission to do so, they can't convict him, right?”

“Yeah, no. It's not- the card thing won't be an issue. It's the breaking and entering charges we need to worry about.”

“What do you mean breaking and--” Sam started, but then his eyes widened in realisation. “Oh. Oh, fuck.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Sebastian replied weakly.

“Wait, you were involved in this?” Tina asked Sam, voice a slight octave higher than her normal level. “Sam, what the hell?”

“I, uhh-- yeah. This really isn't-- I can't talk about it.” Sam spluttered, looking at Sebastian for help.

“It's my fault.” Sebastian sighed. “It's-- well, it's a long story. But I-- I guess you should know what you're getting involved with here.”

Before he could continue, though, Blaine's phone started vibrating against his leg. Drawing it out of his pocket, he glanced at the screen.

_**Unknown Number** _

“Sam can tell you what he knows.” Sebastian replied, sending a nod to a distressed looking Sam, before exiting the room to take the call, listening to the automated message.

“ _This is a phone call from Westerville Sheriff's Office – if you were expecting this call, press one to accept, or two to reject._ ”

Fumbling shakily with the phone a little, he managed to figure out the keypad, pressing the pad of his thumb lightly on the key.

“ _Sebastian._ ”

“Blaine,” Sebastian replied, a slight tremble to his voice. “Are you okay? What's happening? Did they get you a lawyer?”

“ _No, no. Not yet. I'm about to give my statement, but I'm going to need to give the full story, Bas. I just wanted to warn you._ ”

Sebastian ran his free hand over his face, rubbing at his tired eyes a little. “I know, it's okay – tell them what you need to, B. I-- god, Blaine. I'm so sorry,” he choked.

“ _Bas, no. You can't be blaming yourself for this._ ” Blaine replied, worry clear in his voice.

“No... this is all my fault.”

“ _No, it's really not. It's your father's fault. I'm not blaming you, so please don't blame yourself._ ”

Sebastian was quiet for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to say next. No matter what Blaine tried to tell him, though, he knew this was on him.

There was some rustling from the other side of the phone, and Blaine let out a sigh. “ _I need to go. I might be kept in overnight, and then they're going to figure out what to do after. Just, don't do anything stupid, Bas. Please. I'll be fine._ ”

“You know me, killer. Always rational.” Sebastian replied bitterly.

“ _Bas,_ ” Blaine warned. “ _I mean it._ ”

“I love you.” Sebastian cut in, not wanting to agree to Blaine's request – the last thing he wanted to do was to lie to him.

“ _I love you, too._ ” Blaine replied. “ _Please, Bas, I'm begging you--_ ”

There was a slight buzzing noise, and then there was complete silence. A quick glance at the phone told Sebastian that Blaine's time had run out.

A blessing in disguise, really, because he knew that Blaine was going to ask him not to get involved – although, he doubted that Blaine truly believed that he would just sit back and do nothing. Sure, there had been no official ruling, and the credit card stuff would be dismissed pretty quickly, but the breaking and entering – he had to admit, that was pretty serious.

When he entered back into the living room, he couldn't help but notice the way that Tina and Kurt were looking at him now, eyes soft with understanding that told him Sam had finished telling them about the day that he helped Blaine and Cooper collect him from his father's house.

“Don't do that.” Sebastian grumbled at them.

“What?” Kurt asked, voice a little higher than usual (which was pretty damn impressive, if you asked Sebastian).

“Don't treat me differently just because you feel sorry for me.”

Kurt looked like he was about to open his mouth to protest, but closed it quickly, his expression hardening.

Rather than saying anything, Sebastian turned to Sam. “After you and Cooper dropped us off here, you guys called the police, didn't you?”

Sam nodded.

“I need to know what you told them.”

“We told them pretty much how we found you and what had been going on – or, well, what we knew of it anyway, but--” Sam sighed. “We had no proof, and they requested to speak to you, and you said no, so-- they couldn't really do anything about it.”

Sebastian nodded, because he suspected as much. “My father's a state's attorney, and he has a lot of pull in the sheriff's office. They won't take us seriously without proof.”

“And how do you propose we get proof?” Kurt asked.

“Well, that's the complicated part...” Sebastian admitted.

 

-

 

“I figured you were rich,” Kurt snarked, looking up at Sebastian's father's house, nose crinkled. “You don't just get that sense of entitlement from nowhere.”

“My dad is rich, Lady Hummel. I'm actually penniless. Why do you think I ended up using his credit card in the first place?”

“Guys, can we just concentrate, here?” Tina grumbled from beside them. “You can continue your bitching session later. Don't forget what we're here for.”

Right. Priorities. Blaine.

“She's right. My father's car is gone, and he never leaves the house without it – so he's definitely out of the house. All we need to worry about is Edgar.”

“Edgar?” Sam asked. “Is that the weird looking servant dude?”

Sebastian nodded. “He's not much of a threat, but I just need witnesses in case anything goes wrong. I need eyes and ears everywhere.”

“You're not going in there alone.” Tina told him sternly. “At least take Sam with you.”

“No one else is getting arrested because of me!” Sebastian snapped, turning to Tina. “I just need you guys to keep an eye out. Nothing else. Do _not_ come into the house, do you hear me?”

“Are you kidding me? Do you realise how pissed Blaine will be if you get yourself hurt over this?” Tina retorted. “Look, I might not be your biggest supporter here, Sebastian – not even after knowing what I know now – but Blaine _loves_ you, and if you get hurt, it will destroy him. Just be careful, okay?”

“I will.”

 

-

 

Sheriff Frey was quite an impressive, if intimidating, woman – a fact which Blaine became aware of pretty quickly. She was sitting across from him, hands clasped in front of her, watching him intensely, and Blaine squirmed in his seat nervously, chewing down on his bottom lip.

“We'll start with the credit card fraud, shall we?” the sheriff began, shuffling some documents in her hands before peeling one of them open. “This report tells me that you left for Paris with Sebastian Smythe, son of the prosecutor, is that correct?”

Blaine stared at his hands, a little afraid to look into the sheriff's accusing eyes. “Yes.”

“And how did you and Mr Smythe pay for the room, exactly?”

“Sebastian purchased the room with his father's card before we even agreed that I was coming with him.” Blaine frowned, thinking back. “It's-- well, it's a long story, but my tickets were only booked the night before we left.”

Sheriff Frey made a hum of agreement. “I can see that here. So you're telling me that the spending was made on the credit card by Mr Smythe only?”

Blaine briefly felt a flurry of panic in his chest. “I-- he's not going to get into trouble, is he?”

She shook her head, watching Blaine carefully. “No, Mr Anderson. We have been informed that Mr Smythe had permission to use his father's card.”

Blaine relaxed in his chair a little, slightly reassured. “I swear to you, I didn't spend _any_ of the money on the card. Sebastian paid for _everything_.”

“Why should I believe you, Mr Anderson? It says here that you also broke into Mr Smythe's home. Perhaps you'd like to explain your way out of that one, too.”

“You don't understand,” Blaine groaned, covering his face. He knew that this next part would be a little trickier to explain away. “He was-- Sebastian was in danger.”

The woman hummed in disbelief, crossing her arms. “How so, Mr Anderson? I believe that his father and their servant, Edgar Lestrade, were both at the place of residence, is that correct?”

“Yes, but--”

“Yet, despite there being more than one person present, you felt the need to break into Mr Smythe's home?”

“You don't understand!” Blaine growled, fists clenched. “Sebastian was in danger from his _father_. He had been locked up for over a week! I found him tied to a fucking chair covered in bruises and blood!”

He was shaking, and he knew he needed to calm down, but he really couldn't. Why couldn't the sheriff see that she was holding the wrong person? While he sat here trying to justify saving Sebastian, the real monster was still at loose, doing god knows what.

The sheriff, to her credit, didn't move to restrain him, or tell him to stop swearing – not that it would have made much of a difference, he was still in handcuffs, after all. She did, however, stare him down, which was intimidating as fuck.

“Mr Anderson... I'm sure you realise that Mr Smythe is a well respected states attorney around these parts, yes?”

“Yes,” Blaine choked – because Sebastian had, in fact, used that as a threat against the New Directions at one point. He knew now that it was an empty threat, obviously, because he doubted that Sebastian's father has ever done anything for his son prior to the death of his wife.

“Then, I'm sure you'll understand if we can't do anything about this without proof. Do you have proof?”

Blaine swallowed. “N-no”

She nodded, clearly having suspected as much. “Is there anything you can provide to back this up? Anything at all?”

“He- he was in hospital after one attack, and he's been in there several times before because of his father. Surely his hospital records must reflect that?”

“I'm going to need to speak to your fiancée in order to get permission to gain access to those – but even then, Mr Anderson, I need to inform you that I can't promise that the records will be proof enough. It's going to go to court, and it's going to be messy – are you and your fiancée ready to deal with that?”

“I'd... need to take it up with Sebastian,” Blaine said. “He was reluctant to talk about it to you guys before, but.. I think he'd co-operate now.”

“Is there anything else you feel that I should know before we put you into the cells?” The woman asked, seemingly satisfied with the information she'd been given so far.

“No... I don't think so.”

 

-

 

It felt strange being back inside his father's house. He was extremely on edge – his heart was thudding hard in his chest and he was breathing in soft shallow pants as he crept across the basement, trying to make as little noise as possible. Luckily, Edgar hadn't heard him enter the house – he wasn't entirely sure if he was even _in_ the house – he certainly hadn't heard any noise from upstairs. Sebastian had managed to get to the basement with ease, nonetheless.

The computer was hidden in one of the dark corners, covered in dust and cobwebs – apparently, his father had no use for it anymore. Still, it was the only place he could retrieve the surveillance footage, as far as Sebastian was aware.

Drawing the USB stick from his pocket, Sebastian inserted it into the PC, turning it on then tapping on a few keys and clicking until he found the stored files, searching for the right dates – the date that Blaine had come to get him, of course, and the date that his father had beaten him in the kitchen, before leaving him there until Blaine found him. There was, of course, many other instances of abuse that could be found, but he couldn't remember the exact dates, and he hoped that this footage would be enough to at least get the police to take him seriously.

Unfortunately, they were pretty big files – his father was over-paranoid, meaning that he'd opted for the best quality surveillance that he could find. This would, of course, be an advantage in the long run, but right now, it was hindering him slightly.

Pulling Blaine's phone from his pocket, he typed a quick text to Kurt, telling him that he was in the basement, and still to be on the lookout.

_20%..._

He tapped his fingers on the desk nervously as he waited. He really just wanted to get this over with and get the fuck out of there as soon as he could. The thought of even seeing his father again made him feel sick to his stomach.

_29%..._

_Fuck fuck fuck._ This was taking way too long. He couldn't turn back now, though. He  _couldn't_ . Even if Blaine got out of jail, he was going to make his father pay for this. He could go after Sebastian all he wanted, but the one mistake he made was going after Blaine. 

That was a fatal mistake, indeed. 

_57%..._

The phone vibrated in his pocket.

 **KURT:** Car just pulled in, get out of there!!

Sebastian cursed, glancing back to the screen.

_72%..._

No – he couldn't. He had to wait. His hands were shaking too much to even attempt to text Kurt back, though, so he just sat his phone on the desk, glaring at the computer as though he was trying to will it to move the fuck faster.

_84%..._

The phone vibrated again.

 **KURT:** Sebastian I swear to god, get the fuck out of there right now!! It's not worth it. We'll find another way!

He growled, low and quiet. Of fucking _course_ it was worth it – why didn't Hummel understand? He needed to do this for Blaine. Of course, there was the chance that they would take Sebastian's word for it and maybe his hospital records for proof, but what he needed was something undeniable – something that proved his father was guilty once and for all. It was the only way to ensure that Blaine wasn't charged.

_93%..._

He heard a thump from behind him, and Sebastian froze, eyes wide, chill running down his spine.

“Sebastian. Move away from the computer.”

He swallowed, not even looking towards the source of the voice.

“Sebastian.”

“No.” Sebastian spat coldly. “Fuck you.”

This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.

Without any warning, Sebastian found himself getting yanked from behind, landing flat on his back on the floor in front of his father, getting winded in the process, head landing hard on the floor with a _thunk_. “You couldn't just leave it alone, could you?” his father growled.

Sebastian choked, rolling to his side. “I hate you.”

His father laughed coldly. “Yeah? I hate you too, you little shit. You know you're a murderer, right? You got your mother killed, and I got left with _you_.”

Sebastian felt a pang in his chest. “That's not true,” he shot back weakly.

He got rewarded with a swift kick to the face, and he could practically hear his bones squeal in protest as his nose burst open, a steady flow of blood erupting.

“You should have known better than to come back here, Sebastian. But I'm nothing if not benevolent – so I'll give you a choice.”

Fuck – he was in so much pain, he could barely see, and there was an intense ringing sound in his ears. He really needed to get to the USB, and get the fuck out of there. He could see from where he lay that it was flashing at _100%_ now... if only he could reach it.

“Are you listening?”

His eyes snapped to his father, who was standing above him, arms crossed, glowering.

“This can go one of two ways, Sebastian. You can either continue this stupidity, and your _fiancée_ ,” he said the word mockingly, “can rot in jail, because the only way you're getting out of here with that USB stick is over my dead body.”

Sebastian laughed humourlessly at that, despite the extreme pain that he was in, coupled with the weakness overtaking his body. “That doesn't sound too bad, actually.”

Another kick – this time to the chest. Sebastian choked harshly, doubling over on the floor, eyes clenched shut tight. Breathing was getting a little harder, now, but he was determined not to give up.

“Would you like to hear your second option, or do I have to tie you up again?”

He didn't reply – couldn't, even if he wanted to. His voice wasn't working anymore. In fact, his entire body wasn't working anymore. He couldn't move – not even to swipe the stream of blood flowing from his nose, or the tears adamantly falling from his eyes. His throat tightened, and he choked back a sob, which his father seemed to take as confirmation.

“You can come home, and I'll drop the charges. Mr Anderson will go free. He's better off without you anyway, right?” He sneered, perching over his son. “What will it be, Sebastian?”

“I--” Sebastian croaked, looking up at his father with wide eyes. What choice did he have, really? His freedom for Blaine's – there was no question. “I--”

“Stand back.”

Both father and son jolted at the third voice in the room, and their heads darted towards the source.

Sebastian took in a breath, watching in fascination as Sam stood, flanked by Tina and Kurt, gun aimed at his father. He couldn't quite tell what make it was, but it was a small pistol, and where the fuck did Evans even get it? He had no idea the guy had a gun on him in the first place.

“You wouldn't dare.” Sebastian's father warned, though he looked unsure.

Sam just laughed coldly. “You don't know me. I'm pretty unstable.”

Sebastian, of course, knew better – but he couldn't help but be impressed by Sam's acting skills. He didn't even sound like himself.

“You were going to say _yes_ ,” Kurt said, looking at Sebastian with wonder. Sebastian just replied with a feeble nod. Still, Kurt continued, “you would have given up your freedom so that Blaine didn't go to jail.”

Fuck, what the fuck wasn't he getting about this? Of _course_ he was going to stay for Blaine. Kurt's eyes bore into him, as though he was watching one of the wonders of the world.

“You really do love him. I-- I mean, I--”

His father just sneered, though, interrupting them. “Go on, then. Shoot me.”

Sam flinched.

“Ah, I see.” He smirked. “All bark and no bite, hm? I knew you wouldn't do anything. Now, I suggest the three of you leave my property right now, before you all end up arrested as well.”

“Just- just go,” Sebastian groaned weakly through the haze, still struggling to move from the ground – shaky arms propping him up slightly, with a large amount of effort on his part. What the hell was he thinking, getting them involved, anyway?

“You heard my son. Leave us. I'll deal with him on my own.”

“Like _hell_ you will,” a fourth voice spoke – and this one, Sebastian didn't recognise. When he looked up, though, he felt his chest relax slightly at the sight.

“Sheriff Frey,” His father spluttered, eyes darting between the sheriff and his son. “I was-- you don't-- they were threatening me with a gun. It was self defense.”

Sheriff Frey turned her attention towards Sam, who handed the gun to the woman immediately. To Sebastian's surprise, the woman just snorted. “Ah, you mean this BB gun, here? My son has one of these.” She turned it in her hands, before handing it back to Evans with a soft smile. “Quite realistic, aren't they?”

“I-- but I--”

“Save it for the station, Mr Smythe.”

Two more officers joined them, and Sebastian recognised them as the ones who had arrested Blaine earlier that day – however, this time he was glad to see them, as they approached his father, pulling his wrists behind his back before cuffing them together.

His father simply scowled at Sebastian with contempt. “This is all your fault, as usual. Don't think that you'll get away with this, Sebastian.”

“Take him away.” The sheriff growled with disgust, before moving towards Sebastian. Upon getting a closer look, she sucked in a breath, wincing. “One of you call an ambulance. Now.”

Sebastian tried to reply – to make some sort of protest, but all the adrenaline was pouring out of his system now, and his eyes were heavy. With one final choke, he gave in, letting himself shut down, everything fading to black.

 

-

 

Beeping was the first thing that Sebastian could here upon returning to consciousness. He let out a soft groan, bleary eyes opening, and he was greeted with a blur of white that he instantly recognised as one of the hospital wards. Fuck, he was becoming far too familiar with these rooms for his liking.

Then, he heard someone draw in a breath from beside him. “He's-- he's awake. Excuse me-- nurse, please! He's awake!”

“Blaine,” Sebastian groaned weakly.

“Sebastian,” Blaine choked. “Fuck, I don't-- I'm so sorry, I--”

“You'll need to step aside, sweetie. We need to do some checks, and then you can talk to him, okay?”

Everything went quiet after that, and Sebastian let the darkness take him once more.

 

-

 

The second time he woke up, he was much more aware. His entire body was stiff, and he struggled to move, but he felt Blaine grasp onto his hand softly, and he squeezed back weakly. When he caught sight of his fiancée, he could see that Blaine was sitting beside him, eyes heavy, tear tracks running down his cheeks.

“Hey, baby.” Blaine whispered softly, rubbing circles on his hand. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired. Sore,” he croaked in reply. It was then that he caught sight of the stubble on Blaine's face, and he realised immediately. His heart clenched at the sheer anguish on Blaine's face. “How-- how long--?”

“Two months.” Blaine choked, causing him to startle. “You were in a coma for _two months_ , Sebastian. They said-- you might not make it.”

Then, Blaine broke down, burying his face into the covers beside Sebastian, who brought his free hand over to him, stroking his hair softly. “Hey, I'm okay.” Sebastian whispered. “I'm here.”

Blaine sniffed, pressing a kiss to the hand that he was still holding. “I know. It was-- I was so scared, Sebastian. You don't understand--”

“Seb!” The second voice took him by surprise completely.

“Claret? What are you doing here?”

His sister choked back a sob, and Blaine gave him another soft squeeze, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead, before moving so that Claret could take his space. She immediately grasped onto his hand, he smiled softly at her, a little perplexed.

“I wasn't going to just sit in France while my big brother was in the hospital in critical condition, you idiot.” Claret replied shakily, and he leaned up to swipe the wetness from her eyes. “I packed up – moved us here straight away. We've been living with Blaine,” she raised her head, frowning softly at Blaine. “Sebastian, you have to understand – you were in critical condition. You had severe damage to your head, and your ribs were crushed – you were on life support for a while, and then-- well, you started to breath on your own, became stable, but-- the doctors-- they told us they couldn't be sure if or when you would wake up.”

Fuck, he couldn't even process it – two months, apparently. Two months, in which his sister and fiancée had no idea of his condition – of whether or not he would return to them. Two fucking months. He couldn't even imagine how he would have managed it if it was Claret or Blaine sitting where he was now. _Shit._

“What about dad?” He asked.

“You don't need to worry about him,” Claret said, voice tight. “He's serving a long sentence at Ohio State Penitentiary. Apparently the surveillance footage and the fact that Sheriff Frey witnessed him nearly beat his son to death was evidence enough for him to be put away without trial.”

“He deserves worse than prison,” Blaine grumbled icily from the corner of the room, arms crossed. There was an unpleasant twist to his face.

Claret nodded, then smiled softly at Sebastian, running her finger over his chin. “You have peach fuzz.”

Sebastian snorted, feeling the roughness against his face. “You would think that someone would have bothered to shave my face, huh?”

Blaine smiled slightly, walking back over to them, perching on the bed beside Sebastian, running his hand over the stubble gently. “I think you suit it, baby.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Sebastian teased in reply, leaning his head on Blaine's shoulder.

They sat like that for a while – Claret and Blaine filling him in on the events that he'd missed over the last two months.

Addie, Claret had informed him, was currently being babysat by Brittany and Santana at his and Blaine's apartment – which was weird in itself, considering that Sebastian had barely spoken to either of them, having not seen them in years. Yet, Claret seemed to have struck up enough of a friendship with them for her to trust them to look after her child. Holy shit.

Apparently the kid knew that Sebastian was in hospital, but Claret and Blaine had avoided giving her any details, not wanting to upset her with how serious things had been.

They spent time going over tiny details that Sebastian hadn't really given much thought to, purely for the purpose of filling the silence, which Sebastian suspected had engulfed them for quite some time.

For instance, Tina and Sam's one month relationship – which apparently had started not long after Sebastian had been put into hospital, and ended when they realised that they just weren't working together, and were better off as friends.

Blaine, Claret and Addie were living in the apartment – which was cramped, as Sebastian could imagine, but it meant that his fiancée and his sister could be there for one another. He could tell just by the dynamic in the room that they had become good friends – the way they moved around one another seamlessly, and that warmed his heart, because he knew that neither had to suffer through Sebastian's condition alone, if nothing else.

Nothing else notable had happened, really. Kurt had returned to New York, though he had kept in contact with Blaine as much as he could, trying to help him through the rough time. Sebastian wasn't worried – he knew by this point that Blaine didn't want Kurt anymore – he trusted Blaine more than he's trusted anyone in his entire life, his sister and mother excluded, of course. Sam visited the hospital with Blaine sometimes, and even Tina had shown up a couple of times.

When Claret went to fetch some coffees for herself and Blaine (because apparently Sebastian wasn't allowed to drink any yet, which was pretty fucking annoying), Blaine held him close, sobbing into his neck, telling him how much he missed him – reaffirming how scared he was, how hopeless he felt, and how relieved he was when Sebastian woke up.

“It's okay, I'm okay, killer,” Sebastian hushed him, wrapping his arms around the other man tight.

“I love you so much. Don't do that to me again. Ever. I can't lose you. I can't.”

“I love you, too. I'm not going anywhere,” Sebastian replied firmly.

And he meant it.

 

-

 

Claret returned with the two coffees in hand to the sight of her brother and his fiancée wrapped around one another, foreheads pressed together – neither man even noticing she was in the room. She smiled softly at the contented look Sebastian's face, as well as the sheer relief present on Blaine's, and her heart felt lighter than it had done in two months.

They truly were blessed.

 


	21. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, THANK YOU to each and every one of you who took the time to read, follow, review or leave kudos on this story – I'm honestly so touched at the thought that people have enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it, and you've all kept me going at times when I've felt like giving up, so I honestly can't express my gratitude enough. 
> 
> Second, I can't believe it's over. I'm actually pretty damn emotional right now, and I hope that the epilogue manages to tie everything up well enough. I tried to include as many people as possible, but I didn't want to overdo it. 
> 
> Also, while this is officially the ending of the story, I still plan to write for this 'verse now and again in the form of short timestamps/drabbles, so keep an eye out, if you want to follow these guys more. So it will be turned into a series, but the story is over, if that makes sense. It's only going to be small snippets and there will be no more regular updates. 
> 
> I'll stop babbling now but I LOVE YOU GUYS, thank you so much for your support and I hope that the epilogue is to your liking. 
> 
> You can find me [here](http://keeponwarbling.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.

“Relax, you look fine,” Sam told him from the bed which he'd draped himself on, waiting for Blaine to finish fussing over his hair in front of the mirror.

Blaine sighed, frowning. “He's going to look better than me. I know he is.”

He heard Sam snort, then the squeaking of the mattress springs as his best man left the bed, making his way over to Blaine, fixing his tie for him. “I doubt Sebastian will see it that way.”

“Are you coming on to me, Evans?” Blaine quipped, a wry expression sent in Sam's direction. “I mean, I know I had a brief crush on you in high school, but you're a little late – I'm getting married today, you know.”

Sam's fingers left his tie and he scoffed. “Sebastian is a terrible influence on you.”

They had been engaged for six years before they finally reached their wedding day.

It wasn't intentional, of course. Between Sebastian's physical therapy after the coma and the fact that they had to pay for college, a wedding just wasn't practically possible for a while. Or financially, considering that Sebastian no longer had any money and Blaine downright refused to have his parents pay for the wedding – they were _still_ paying them back for their borrowed college funds.

It wasn't until they had both graduated from NYU, Sebastian having established his own dance studio (because, as it turned out, Sebastian was damn talented and parents were fighting to get their kids in – they even had a waiting list and everything) and Blaine taking some smaller stage roles whenever possible and helping Sebastian at the studio the rest of the time, that they could even _think_ about saving for a wedding.

A knock on the door jolted him out of his thoughts, and he was greeted with the sight of his soon-to-be sister-in-law, looking beautiful in her Maid of Honour dress. It was a simple red chiffon floor-length number, which had a slight trail at the back, and her blonde hair sat in loose curls, topped with a thin headband with a few subtle flowers at the side. They'd allowed her to pick her own look, in all honesty – because, let's face it, neither Blaine or Sebastian had any clue when it came to women, nor their sense of fashion.

“You look amazing,” Blaine told her with a slight huff.

“Blaine's worried that Sebastian's going to look better than him,” Sam informed Claret with an eye-roll.

Claret snorted. “He's in there saying the exact same thing. A little more colourful, mind you. He won't stop talking about how great your ass looks in a suit.” With that, her eyes trailed down Blaine's body, and she smirked. “Can't say I disagree with him on that one.”

“Hey, we're about to be related! You can't do that anymore,” Blaine laughed, swatting playfully at Claret, who sent him a wide grin in return.

“Through _marriage_ ,” She pointed out. “Don't worry, we can still have that affair. Seb will never know.” 

“Oh, thank god. I was about to call the whole thing off for a minute there.”

Claret giggled, her eyes alight with affection towards Blaine. Sure, they joked – she flirted, Blaine played along with her in return, but the truth of it was, they already looked at each other like they were brother and sister. His heart swelled to think that Addie would officially be his niece in a few hours time. Not that it would make a difference in the way they acted around one another – they were already family.

“So, are you ready?” Claret asked, smoothing the lapels of Blaine's suit with her hands.

“Absolutely,” Blaine grinned at her – because was there ever any doubt? He'd been waiting for this day for six years – he just wanted to be married, already.

It was a small outdoor ceremony at Lima National Park, because, despite the fact that they both lived in a generously-sized apartment in New York now, it was easier for them to come back to Ohio and book a hotel for a couple of nights rather than ask everyone to travel. Of course, a lot of them lived out in New York – Claret and Addie, Sam, Brittany, Santana and their five-year-old daughter Charlie, but they didn't mind travelling back home for a few nights.

They tried to give as many of their friends roles as possible. For example, Tina, Brittany and Santana as bridesmaids (dressed similarly to Claret, except that their hairs were pinned back in an intricate bun with loose strands framing their faces at the front). Addie was, of course, their flower girl – along with Charlie. Their dresses were white chiffon, lined with red ribbons in the middle – which, both Claret and Santana had complained, were going to get immediately ruined as soon as they sat down for their meal.

Rachel was their officiator (“Leave it to Rachel Berry to insist on a starring role in our wedding,” Sebastian had quipped playfully when she'd suggested it, earning him a glare which didn't really have all that much heat behind it), and the rest of their friends were dotted around the room – even Mercedes, who Blaine actually hadn't seen since he'd started dating Sebastian, due to the fact that her recording career had soared and she didn't have as much free time as she would have liked in order to visit her old friends.

The only people absent, really, were Kurt and Dave – purely because while they were all on good terms, Kurt felt a little awkward about attending his ex's wedding and Dave didn't want to show up without his boyfriend. He had texted them both that morning, though, with his well-wishes.

Sebastian stood at the front of the aisle as Blaine approached behind the flower girls, who were having way too much fun scattering rose petals before him. He smiled at them in fond amusement before clapping his eyes on the man he was about to marry – drop dead gorgeous as ever in an all-black suit similar to Blaine's, complimented with a dark red silk tie. Despite the teasing he'd always aimed towards Blaine about hair products, Sebastian's hair was gelled back, because Sebastian had a terrible habit of tugging on his hair when he was nervous, and he didn't really want bed-head in his wedding photos, no matter how sexy Blaine thought it was.

When he approached his husband-to-be, he took both of his hands, and both of them grasped onto one another with twin grins stretched wide across their faces that they couldn't hide even if they tried, because this was it – they were finally doing this. Six years of waiting, and the day was here, and despite the fact that they had both been big bags of nerves on the lead up to it, they'd never been more ready for anything in their entire lives.

Rachel led with a beautiful speech about love, acceptance and forgiveness, most of which Blaine didn't really hear because he was too busy getting lost in the greens of Sebastian's eyes. They'd chosen not to go with their own vows – they knew how they felt about each other, and they didn't really feel the need to spill their hearts out in front of their nearest and dearest, so the actual ceremony was pretty quick, and when Rachel pronounced them husband and husband, Sebastian pulled Blaine towards him, spinning him on his feet and dipping him into a smooth, deep kiss, earning them wolf whistles from most of the wedding party (Claret and Santana being the loudest, obviously).

He couldn't stop staring at his wedding ring all the way through their meal – a white gold band that slotted on top of his engagement ring. Sebastian sat at his side, his hand rested firmly on Blaine's inner thigh, stroking it gently with his thumb, and Blaine tried to ignore the arousal pooling deep in his belly, because they couldn't exactly leave in the middle of the reception. Sebastian's eyes were fixed on him, though, smug grin fixed firmly on his face, and Blaine swallowed thickly because he knew that his husband clearly had some sort of plan (and maybe his heart fluttered a little as he ran the word _husband_ through his mind).

It wasn't until he went to the toilet, though, that he learned what that plan was. He was washing his hands when an arm snaked around his waist from behind, and he glanced up at the mirror to watch as Sebastian nuzzled him, pressing gentle kisses to his pulse-point. Soon, the kisses became more open-mouthed, and Sebastian scraped his teeth against Blaine's neck, causing Blaine to let out a loud groan, his knees buckling a little at the touch.

He said nothing as his husband strode over to the door with purpose, before locking it with a _click_ and fixing him with a sinful smirk. He returned his attention to Blaine's neck, and Blaine tilted his head to allow for better access, his hands pressed firmly on Sebastian's chest for support. “You look delicious in that suit, Mr Anderson-Smythe. Enough to get a guy all hot and bothered.”

“Mm, I'm a married man now, though. I'm afraid I can't partake in these activities with you anymore,” Blaine jested, trailing his hands down to Sebastian's waist, squeezing him softly.

“Doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you,” Sebastian drawled, pressing Blaine into the wall, pulling his hands into his own and pinning them above him, nosing at his neck softly.

Blaine let out a choked laugh. “You've used that line on me before. What makes you think it'll work this time?”

His husband sighed dramatically, bumping his nose against Blaine's with a wry smirk. “You don't look like you're up for resisting me this time, killer. We might as well bang this out before I return you to your husband – I heard he's a bit of an ass.”

Blaine hummed. “He can be, but he's sexy as hell and gives one hell of a blowjob, so I put up with him.”

At that, Sebastian huffed, falling to his knees and dragging his fingers down Blaine's body before trailing them to his groin, and a needy whine poured from Blaine's lips at the touch. Sebastian worked his zipper quickly, pulling him out of his boxers without completely stripping him, eyes darting up towards Blaine's.

God, he loved Sebastian like this – on his knees, worshipping him. Sebastian cradled his balls, pressing kisses at his base softly, causing Blaine's breath to hitch with a startling pang of need. “Bas,” he groaned, digging his fingers into the wall, because if he didn't, he'd be grasping onto Sebastian's hair, and he'd gone to such effort to keep it tidy for the wedding.

Sebastian obliged him, though, wrapping his mouth below his frenulum, and his hand around the base of Blaine's cock, moving in a rhythmic motion, adding pressure with his tongue, circling around him, setting Blaine alight, ripples making their way down his spine.

Sebastian's hands travelled down to his own zipper, and Blaine listened to the ruffling as he pulled himself out, wrapping his free hand around his own dick. He moaned around Blaine's cock hungrily, earning him a guttural groan from Blaine, who tensed inside his husband's mouth.

It didn't take long for Sebastian to work them both to completion – Blaine coming with a broken moan inside Sebastian's wet heat, his skin absolutely drenched from sweat and flushed from the heat, and he felt Sebastian tremble, softly clawing down Blaine's stomach, nose buried into his hipbone, as he followed him over the edge with a soft whimper. His dick twitched a little as Sebastian licked him clean.

Fuck, that would never not be sexy.

Their hearts thudding in their chests, they took a few minutes to gather themselves, before Sebastian grabbed some towels and strategically cleaned himself up, then after throwing the towels in the bin, he pulled Blaine into a soft kiss, his fingers stroking along his jaw softly.

“I think we've been gone long enough. I doubt there's anyone over the age of eighteen in that room that doesn't know what we've been up to in here.” Blaine said, voice like gravel as Sebastian leaned against him.

Sebastian hummed in reply, sniffing his neck, and palming his ass with both hands. “Yeah, you stink of sex. I think I've successfully managed to lay my claim on you. Let's go, stud.”

The knowing looks that they got when they left the bathroom said it all, but Sebastian just winked at Rachel on the way past, who was giving them a half-hearted stink-eye from across the room, and no one really said anything. Not that they would deny it, because let's face it, everyone should have expected it from them, anyway.

It was all pleasantries and dancing after that.

Towards the end of the night, Blaine found Sebastian perched on his chair, watching Claret and Sam like a hawk with narrowed eyes, who were sitting rather too close to be entirely platonic. Blaine huffed softly in amusement, dragging his chair out from under the table and taking his seat next to Sebastian. “You know, if the wind changes your face might stick like that.”

The glare was turned towards Blaine. “This is all your fault, you know.”

“Hey! How is it _my_ fault?”

“Your constant teasing, telling them to get a room already, conveniently leaving them on their own whenever you get the chance – need I go on?”

Blaine's lips dipped, and he reached over to take Sebastian's hand into his own. “Baby, Claret is an _adult_ now, and Sam's a great guy. They've been dancing around each other for years out of respect for you. Can't you just give them a break?”

Sebastian grunted, scraping his chair back and rising to his feet. Blaine buried his face in his hands as he strode over to his sister and their best man, but watched between the gaps in his fingers in case he needed to interject.

“Evans,” Sebastian sneered, causing them both to flinch, looking up at him with worried matching expressions.

“Hey, bro,” Claret quipped weakly, earning her a glare from her brother.

“Uhm. Hi, Sebastian. You're looking handsome today. Did you- is there- have you been working out?”

Blaine snorted into his hands at Sam's attempt at flattery.

“We need to have a chat,” Sebastian replied, not even bothering to humour him. He pulled over a chair, slinging his legs over it and leaning on the backrest, staring the other man down. “Claret, leave us for a few minutes.”

Her eyes darted between the two men nervously, but she shot Sam an apologetic smile, before making her way across the floor to join Santana and Brittany, who were dancing with the kids. Santana held a tired and disgruntled-looking Charlie in her arms, swaying her from side to side, and Brittany spun in circles with a still very much hyperactive Addie gripping onto her hands.

Sam swallowed. “Look, Seb, I-”

“Listen up, Sammy-boy,” Sebastian interrupted, holding up a hand to halt him. “Even after all the shit I pulled on Blaine in high school, you've been one of our biggest supporters. You're Blaine's best friend, and you're my friend by extension. But I swear, Samifer--”

“--my name isn't--”

“--I fucking swear. Hurt her, and I'll destroy you. It's not just you and Claret, here. Addie needs a stable home, and she's already attached to you. If you _ever_ do anything that causes my sister or niece any distress, I will pound you into the ground, and not in the sexy way. Clear?”

“Y-yes,” Sam stuttered, watching Sebastian with wide eyes.

He just nodded stiffly, and Sam flinched as he moved his hand, but Sebastian just clapped him on the shoulder with a soft double thud. “Good. Take care of her.”

“I will,” Sam replied, fixing Sebastian with a grateful smile.

Blaine's heart warmed in his chest, because, yeah, if anyone was good enough for Claret, it was Sam, and vice versa. He had no doubt that Sam would be great with Addie – he already cared about the kid immensely, and she looked up to him.

As the night drew to a close, Blaine and Sebastian left the reception, a little hazy from the champagne, and made their way into their chauffeured wedding car, a 1966 Cadillac, which was taking them to the airport so that they could begin their three month honeymoon road trip across Europe (Brittany was temporarily taking over Sebastian's dance classes, and Santana had promised to take care of the admin stuff that Blaine usually dealt with on a day-to-day basis). They were dusted in glitter because apparently Brittany had insisted that the guests throw that instead of traditional rice or petals, saying something or other about the magic of unicorns and god knows what, Blaine hadn't really been listening.

He turned to his husband, wide grin on his face, leaning over to take his hand and squeeze it between his own. “What now?”

Sebastian smiled at him softly, leaning over to press a soft kiss to the side of his mouth. “Don't care, as long as it's with you.”

“Marriage has turned you soft.”

“I was already soft before we got married. It's all your fault. I used to be such a badass.”

Blaine giggled softly. “You're still a badass. You're my badass.”

“You better believe it.”

 


End file.
